Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Italian Stuffed Peppers

While home in NJ this past weekend I was on a quest to make dinner with whatever ingredients my dad had on hand in the fridge before they went bad.  Dad, I love you, but you are a big time food waster.  

I was eyeing 2 red bell peppers and a bunch of chicken sausage and thought: stuffed peppers!  But I really wanted us to each have more than one pepper each.  Unfortunately my trip to the store to simply grab 2 yellow bell peppers ended with my dad having to come jump my dead car battery and go get a new one installed.  

So much for trying to make his day a little easier by cooking dinner.  

Eventually I got to the peppers.

Italian Stuffed Peppers
you'll need
  • 4 bell peppers (never, ever green as my friend Chris once told me about bell peppers)
  • Olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 sweet italian chicken sausages, casings removed and sausage crumbled
  • 4-5 chopped white mushrooms
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
  • 1 cup cooked brown rice
  • dried parsley, oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes
  • grated parmasen cheese
  • shredded mozzarella cheese
Start by cooking your rice if you haven't already done so.

Cut the tops off of each pepper and clean out the insides.
Place them upright in a muffin tin (why have I not thought of this before?!)

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet.
Brown the crumbled sausage, onion, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and saute another 3 minutes.
Add tomatoes and dried herbs to taste, let simmer for 5 minutes.
(a splash of red wine would go well here to deglaze the pan and add flavor)

Add the rice and stir.  

Drop a large spoonful of the rice mixture into each pepper, the sprinkle and light dusting of parmasen cheese on top of the rice.  

Add another heaping spoonful of rice and another layer of cheese.  Repeat until peppers are filled.

Top with shredded mozzarella then bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  

Serve hot!

To make this vegan, try using Field Roast italian sausages instead!  I love these and cook with them all the time when I'm cooking for myself and not the carnivores.  


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