These are such a little thing to be proud of, but proud of them I am.  It’s not often I dont’ follow a recipe to its complete letter.  These red pepper bites were an idea, a whim, something I wanted to try and see how it turned out.  And in one of those amazingly rare moments, it all gelled and worked together to form something reallly tasty and bento worthy.  They were also super easy to make.

To get started, you need a few very basic things: 1 largish red pepper, some shredded cheese (about a cup), and the Versatile Meat Mix that I posted about today.  The first thing you want to do is mix together your meat in a bowl following the recipe.   Once that’s done, you’re ready to assemble your red pepper bites.

Cut your red pepper in half and scoop out all the seeds on the inside.  Next, cut your red pepper into bite size chunks.  They will most likely come out sort of squarish.  Lay them all out on a greassed baking sheet or on a rack like I have.  I greased mine with nonstick spray.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out same size portions of the meat mix and form into oval-ish shapes that fit onto the pieces of red pepper.  Top each one with shredded cheese.

If you run out of really nice bits of red pepper then stack the other way: meat mix, shredded cheese, and red pepper piece on the top.  This way was really good too, just not as photogenic once cooked.  The red peppers do sort of roast really nicely this way though.

Bake the whole shebang in an oven at 400 degrees for about 20 – 25 minutes.  The small scoops of meat are small enough to cook fully in that amount of time.  If you’re unsure, cut one in half to make sure it is done all the way through.

These things looked so tasty once done that I had to have one with my morning egg.  Oh my.  Tasty tasty tasty.  I hope you enjoy them too if you make them.