Stuffed Peppers

Method

1. blanch5 min
   the shells, in well-salted boiling water
   the hollowed peppers for four minutes, drained upside down — the par-boil that settles the dish's oldest argument: it takes the pepper from crunchy-raw to tender in the same forty minutes the filling needs, instead of the ninety it would demand raw
2. sear8 min
   medium-high, beef browned, aromatics after
   beef browned in patches and broken up, onion softened in its fat, garlic last — the filling is fully cooked before it ever meets the pepper, which is what frees the bake to be short
3. mix3 min
   off heat: rice + half the tomatoes + seasonings
   everything folded together and tasted HERE — a bland filling cannot be rescued inside a pepper; this is the last moment adjustment is possible
4. bake35 min
   375°F, peppers packed snug, remaining tomato around, cheese at minute 25
   the shells filled proud, seated upright in a dish just big enough to hold them (a snug dish is the structure — sprawling peppers slump), crushed tomato poured around, foil on for 25, then off with the cheese for the browned cap
5. rest5 min
   parsley over
   briefly, so the filling sets from loose to sliceable — served with the pan's tomato spooned over, which was quietly becoming sauce the whole time