Printer Friendly RecipeBY MICHAEL PENDLEY AUTHOR OF TIMBER 2 TABLE WILD GAME RECIPESJULY 14, 2017We love it when the bell peppers start rolling in from the summertime garden because it means stuffed peppers. One of our favorites is this Italian meat style stuffed with a chunk of whole-milk mozzarella and smoked on the Traeger for maximum flavor.

The cheese will melt inside the meat and ooze out when you cut into the pepper.

I like a little bite to my pepper, so I don’t cook them until they are completely soft, but if you like your’s a bit softer, just give them an extra 20 minutes or so on the cook time.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground venison

6-8 bell peppers
topped
seeded
and with the cores removed

1 large sweet onion
diced

2 cloves garlic
minced

6 ounces tomato paste

1 pound whole milk fresh mozzarella
cut into as many pieces as you have peppers

1 cup water

2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning blend

 

Cooking Instructions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground venison and onion together. Once the meat is cooked through, add the garlic and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, water, Italian seasoning blend, and salt. Reduce heat to medium and continue to simmer meat mixture till the sauce thickens, about 10 more minutes or so.

While the meat simmers, remove the tops from the bell peppers. Remove the core, ribs and seeds with a spoon. Set the peppers aside.

Spoon in some ground venison, then drop in a cube of cheese so that it is in the center of the pepper.

Cut the block of whole milk fresh mozzarella into as many equal-sized pieces as you have peppers. Spoon a bit of meat into the bottom of the pepper, drop in a piece of cheese, and continue spooning meat until the pepper is full.

Continue filling the peppers with the venison, then transfer to smoker.

Place the peppers on your Traeger or other smoker set at 300 degrees. For a crisp texture to the pepper, smoke for 45 minutes, for a softer pepper, continue smoking for an hour.