Stuffed Pepper Soup

You will need:

3 ½ cups tomato sauce
3 cups chicken stock/broth
3 green bell peppers, diced (Set aside ¼ cup for garnish)
1 onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons sun dried tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 cup diced tomato
1 ½ pounds 80/20 ground chuck
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon each salt and pepper
Season salt of your choice
3 tablespoons chopped parsley 
3 cups cooked rice (I use parboiled)

In a large quart pan, add tomato sauce, chicken stock, sun dried and diced tomatoes and turn on medium heat, and let simmer.

In a large skillet or frying pan, brown ground chuck and drain. Return to heat and add season salt to taste, I use about 1 tablespoon, diced green pepper, diced onion and garlic and cook together until pepper and onion are tender and add to soup along with the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer 1 to 2 hours on low heat and covered. Note: The longer you let simmer the better the flavor will be.

Prepare rice about 30 min before soup is ready. Ladal soup into bowls and top with ¼ cup rice. Garnish with chopped green pepper and/or fresh herbs of your choice. Feeds 8, 4 if everyone gets 2nds

Note: I used my homemade stock and prepared my own diced tomatoes from fresh cherry tomatoes I bought at my local farmer's market.  While this soup will still taste amazing with canned ingredients, using the homemade stock (see my recipe for Heather's Homemade Fragrant Chicken Stock) and preparing the fresh diced tomatoes really made this soup delicious.  This recipe can also be made vegetarian by substituting for vegetable broth and tofu, or just eliminating the ground chuck.