Sausage and Rice Stuffed Peppers

This dish is a quick and easy one to put together, and excellent for lunch the next day. You can use any kind of sausage you like (though I’d not use a American ‘breakfast sausage’ type.

This recipe comes from my son’s Great Aunt Josie — she taught me quite a few traditional Italian-American recipes over the years I knew her, and this is one of my all time favorite of the dishes she prepared.

Aunt Josie made these for family get together’s’ in the autumn and winter. She would make 15-20 of them, and keep them warm over a sterno, along with other dishes such as ‘sausage and peppers’, ‘baked ziti’, ‘meatballs’, and the ever present lasagna.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I always have.

Sausage & Rice Stuffed Peppers

6 large peppers
1 pound Italian sausage (sweet or hot style)
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 to 3/4 cup of tomato sauce
3/4 cup of parmesan or Romano cheese

Wash the peppers, and then slice the tops off. Remove the seeds, and cut away the white veins inside the peppers.

If you are using cased sausages, remove the casings. Chop the sausage and brown in a skillet. Break up the bits of sausage as best as possible with a spatula, so you have small pieces.

Once the sausage is cooked, remove it from the skillet. Add the garlic, onions and mushrooms into the skillet and saute 3-4 minutes. Add in the 3 cups of cooked rice, and saute with the onion/garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the sausage back into the skillet and mix.   Add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Mix in the parsley.

Spoon the sausage mixture into the peppers, filling them completely. Put the peppers into a baking dish that has been lightly greased. Spoon the remaining tomato sauce over the peppers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake in a 425F oven, for about 45 minutes.

Note:

• I use red, yellow or green peppers. I prefer the red peppers, as they are sweeter and, quite frankly, Yuma.
• I like these made with ‘hot’ Italian sausage.
• You can mix in the tomato sauce, instead of placing it on top.
• Mix in the cheese, instead of placing it on top.
• I’ve seen these made with the peppers cut in half, as well, which might be a nice idea if using the peppers as a side dish, instead of the main dish.