Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Stuffed Baby Sweet Peppers

I had found some small multi-colored sweet pepper when shopping the other day. They are wonderfully sweet, mild and easy to work with. The seeds are nearly nonexistent and the membranes are easy to remove. I bought more than I should have, but the price was right. I have been using them as omelet filling, pizza topping, in salads, roasting them to make a bright colored pepper sauce for pasta.

Today I decided to make a variation on the old stuffed bell pepper recipe. I grabbed a couple hot Italian sausages, made some bread crumbs, grated some Parmesan and mozzarella cheese and a couple more ingredients to make a filling. I chose the sausage because I had some on hand and it had a good punch of hot pepper, fennel, salt, and garlic making seasoning easier. After cooking the juice from the peppers was perfect as a dressing for spaghetti.

I confess I did not measure when cooking this. The quantity may be different. Like all recipes they are just a starting point. Your interpretation of the dish may be different. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Filling

  • ½ pound Hot Italian sausage loose
  • 4 slices bread for bread crumbs
  • ½ cup Mozzarella grated
  • ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese grated
  • ¼ cup Milk
  • ¼ cup Ricotta Cheese
  • ⅛ cup Fresh Parsley chopped

Making the Filling

  • Tear the bread into pieces and pulse in a food processor.
  • Combine the bread crumbs, milk and ricotta in a large bowl.
  • Work in the parsley and cheeses.
  • Add the sausage and work the mixture till well mixed.
  • Let the mixture rest in the refrigerator a bit.

Bringing it all Together

  1. Wash and cut the tops off the peppers.
  2. Use a paring knife to remove seeds and membranes.
  3. Rinse the inside of the peppers.
  4. Stuff the peppers with the filling.
  5. Arrange them in a round high side casserole.
  6. Cover the peppers in some vodka sauce.
  7. Add more Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese on top.
  8. Cover and bake in a 325° oven for approximately an hour.
  9. When the cheese is melted and beginning to brown remove from the oven.
  10. Let rest for 15 minutes.
  11. Place the peppers on a platter.
  12. Dress the spaghetti with the sauce in the casserole.
  13. Serve Immediately.

2 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

Sounds tasty, could do with some pictures, sorry if you don't have a camera.

Unknown said...

Thanks yes it was tasty and very colorful owning a camera to capture my dishes would new great. Unfortunately it is not an option at the moment due to being seriously underemployed to unemployed after an accident in 2008 and resulting complications. I am 229 days 12 hours and 57 minutes away from retirement and my wages would make a Haitian day laborer walk away shaking his head saying "No thanks, I get paid to work."