Stuffed Bell Peppers with Classic Bolognese and Cheese
This comforting dish gives new life to leftover classic Bolognese, baked into tender bell pepper halves and topped with golden, melted cheese. Serve with pasta or zucchini noodles and a fresh, colorful salad for a well-rounded meal.
Ingredients
- Baked stuffed peppers
For the peppers:
- 4 large bell peppers any color, halved lengthwise from top to bottom
- Extra virgin olive oil for brushing
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 0,5 l /2 cups leftover classic Bolognese sauce link to the recipe in notes section
- 1 cup shredded Mustaleima Emmental Black Label aged Finnish Emmental, or aged Emmental, Gruyère, Swiss cheese, or a mozzarella–parmesan mix
For serving:
- Pasta or zucchini spaghetti optional. Recipe link for zucchini spaghetti in the notes section below.
For the side salad:
- 1 l Mixed lettuce leaves
- 20 Cherry tomatoes mixed colors, halved
- 1 Fresh onion thinly sliced
- 4 Snack bell peppers sliced
- 1 Cucumber sliced
- 20 Fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp Olive oil white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp White balsamic vinegar
- Flaky sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the peppers
- Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise, from top to bottom. Remove seeds and white membranes. Trim the stem, leaving just the green top to help hold the shape.
Season and pre-bake
- Brush pepper halves inside and out with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Pre-bake in a 200°C (390°F) oven for 10–15 minutes or air fryer for 7–10 minutes, until just starting to soften.
Warm the Bolognese
- While the peppers bake, heat the Bolognese sauce in a pan until hot and slightly thickened. This prevents it from being too runny inside the peppers.
Stuff and top
- Remove peppers from the oven. Spoon the warm Bolognese into each half and top generously with shredded cheese.
Final bake
- Return to the oven or air fryer and bake until the cheese is melted and golden, about 10 minutes.
Make the salad
- Toss lettuce, cherry tomatoes, onion, bell pepper slices, cucumber, and basil with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and flaky sea salt to taste.
Serve and enjoy
- Serve stuffed peppers hot with pasta or zucchini noodles and a big scoop of the salad.
Notes
- If you’d like to make this dish from scratch, start with my Classic Bolognese sauce recipe. It’s perfect for preparing extra sauce to use in stuffed peppers.
- Mustaleima Emmental is a rich, aged Finnish Emmental with a deep, nutty flavor. It melts beautifully and adds bold character. If unavailable, aged Gruyère cheese or Swiss cheese are excellent alternatives.
- This dish reheats well and can be prepped ahead for busy weeknights.
- How to make Zucchini Spaghetti, check the tips here.