Stuffed Peppers

I recently discovered a liking of green peppers. I'm actually not sure if I always liked them and then finally bothered to try them in a burrito at Chipotle one day or if my taste buds changed. Call me crazy... Either way, I like them.

So, how do you make green peppers unhealthy? You stuff them. I'd been wanting to make stuffed peppers basically since discovering I liked them. All the recipes I found online looked fine, but not exactly my style. Then, one day I was watching Ingrid Hoffman's Simply Delicioso and she made stuffed tomatoes that looked more to my liking. So, using her guidance, I came up with this recipe for stuffed peppers. They were delicious and I'd highly recommend them. You should try them. Beware - they're very filling.




Stuffed Peppers
Loosely based on Ingrid Hoffman's Tango Tomatoes
Serves 3-4
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook Time - 20 min

INGREDIENTS
3-4 green bell peppers
8 oz spicy Italian sausage
1 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion, diced fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, diced fine
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded & finely chopped
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 TBSP flat leaf parsley, chopped
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Chop all vegetables and set aside. Cut the tops off of the green peppers and remove the seeds and ribs. Set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage and brown. When almost browned, add the onion and garlic and saute about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the celery, jalapeno, parsley, and tomatoes. Saute for about 5 minutes, again stirring frequently. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Remove skillet from heat and add the Monterey Jack cheese. Stir until cheese melts.

Spoon the mixture into each pepper, pressing down with each scoop (this is to ensure the pepper keeps its shape while baking). Place onto a cooking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Top each pepper with Parmesan cheese and bake about 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Enjoy!

Some Notes
*Next time, I'll probably use a chicken or turkey sausage. Even with draining, the pork sausage produced a little too much excess grease. Also, I think chicken or turkey would give a milder flavor, which would better compliment the pepper. The pork sausage was a little over-powering.

**I'm now interested in turning these into vegetarian stuffed peppers. I'm thinking subbing some rice or orzo instead of the sausage. I can even see using quinoa, if you're into that. I'm not, so I'd probably choose rice.