Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium saucepan boil the water and add the rice. Cook until al dente. (cook until still slightly uncooked) . Drain and let cool or refrigerate for later use.

Slice tomatoes and lay them flat in a Pyrex dish covering the entire base of the dish. Salt to taste and drizzle olive oil over tomatoes.

Cut peppers lengthwise and remove seeds. You can leave the stems if you want, or discard them.

Salt the inside of the peppers.

In a medium bowl, mix ground beef, rice, egg, salt, pepper, tomato paste, onion powder, garlic powder and parmesan cheese. Mix well.

Stuff peppers ensuring that you evenly distribute the ground mixture as much as possible. If you have any leftover, just make little balls and place in dish beside the peppers.

Mix ½ cup of water with the knor vegetable bouillon gel and spoon a little over each pepper.

Pour remaining bouillon mixture in bottom of dish. Ensure that there is at least ½ inch of liquid in bottom of dish. Add liquid if you need to.

Place a basil leaf on each pepper. If you don't have fresh basil then sprinkle dried basil sparingly on top of each pepper.

Place dish in oven and bake for 45 minutes, covered with aluminum foil.

Once peppers have been cooking for 45 minutes, uncover and sprinkle grated cheese on top. Return to oven to bake uncovered until cheese is golden.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes until serving.