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Italian Sausage Stuffed
Peppers |
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3/4 C long-grain brown rice - precooked -
3 green bell peppers - cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed -
1 large onion – diced -
2 tsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil -
2 links Italian Italian Sausage |
- 1/2
tsp. ground fennel - 1/2
tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano - 1/2 cup
grated Parmesan cheese - salt
and fresh ground black pepper to taste - 1/4 cup
grated mozzarella cheese |
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1
Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker.
(Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.) 2
Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a
flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of
peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out
peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive
oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.) 3
Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane,
then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive
oil in a large skillet, then saute
diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but
aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive
oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook
until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner. 4
Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add
the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend
the flavors. Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture
with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough
to warm, about 1-2 minutes. 5
Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon
to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A
few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I
prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can
put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for
30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated
mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake
about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve
hot. |
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