Freezer-Friendly Pizza-Stuffed Bell Peppers

1. Preheat oven to 425°; spray 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Slice 1/2 inch from top of peppers; remove seeds and inner membranes from peppers, and place, cut side up, in prepared dish. In large skillet, cook beef and mushrooms over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until beef is browned and mushrooms are tender, breaking up beef with side of spoon; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup cheese, sauce, pepperoni, basil and crushed red pepper. Makes about 3 cups beef mixture.
2. Fill peppers with beef mixture; bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle peppers with remaining 1/4 cup cheese; bake 10 minutes or until peppers are tender, and cheese is melted and lightly browned. Cool peppers completely; cover dish tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and freeze up to 2 months.
3. To bake stuffed peppers, preheat oven to 425°; let dish stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and aluminum foil; recover dish with foil and bake from frozen 1 hour or until internal temperature of filling reaches 165°. Makes 4 stuffed peppers.
4. Serve peppers garnished with basil, if desired.

Approximate nutritional values per serving (1 stuffed pepper): 488 Calories, 30g Fat, 12g Saturated Fat, 107mg Cholesterol, 836mg Sodium, 18g Carbohydrates, 4g Fiber, 10g Sugars, 0g Added Sugars, 36g Protein