Stuffed Pepper Soup

I debated at first calling this soup since I ended up serving it over mashed potatoes, but technically, it is a soup. I searched all over the internet for recipes and could only find ones that had sugar or brown sugar in them. I do not understand this ingredient at all. Sugar? Stuffed pepper soup? No thanks. I know how to make stuffed peppers - so the soup can't be much different than that.

So, here we go. This is my own recipe. Is it good? Well, let's just say, none of it went to waste!

Most of the recipes make enough soup to feed an army. This recipe makes about 5-6 quarts.

2 bell peppers, diced
1 pound lean ground meat
1 quart of chicken stock or beef broth (I used homemade chicken stock)
1 quart of tomato juice
3/4 cup tomato paste
1 shallot, diced
1/3 cup of brown rice, uncooked
salt/pepper
olive oil

Drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil in a soup pot. Add the diced shallot and ground beef and cook until the meat is browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the stock/broth, tomato juice, and tomato paste. Simmer until the tomato paste has been incorporated into the soup.

Add the diced bell peppers and simmer about 10 minutes. Add the uncooked brown rice and simmer until the rice is tender, approximately 30-40 minutes. The rice will thicken the soup and you can continue to simmer the soup until it's thick enough for your liking. I made mine pretty thick since I was going to spoon it over mashed potatoes.

Salt and pepper to taste.