Recipe for Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan

Start by cooking one cup of long-grain brown rice. I used my beloved Zojirushi Rice Cooker with Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but you can also just follow package directions and cook the rice on the stove.

I don't remember where I learned this trick of barely slicing off the bottom of the bell pepper to make a flat spot for the pepper to stand on, but I always do this now when I'm hollowing out the peppers.

Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of the pepper, because you'll be chopping that up to add to the stuffing mixture. Then remove seeds and stand the peppers up in a baking dish you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove the stems, then chop up the pepper tops along with one large onion. I made this fairly small dice because I wanted it well-distributed in the rice.

Heat olive oil, then saute the peppers and onions for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned.

Remove the peppers and onions, add a bit more olive oil, then squeeze the sausage out of the casings and saute until browned, breaking apart with the turner as you cook.

Add the onions and peppers back to the sausage, add dried spices and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors.

Then mix in the cooked brown rice and Parmesan cheese and cook 1-2 minutes to warm the mixture.

Stuff the filling mixture into the peppers, pushing down with a spoon so the peppers are tightly stuffed. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have peppers that are smaller than I did, you might have a bit of filling left. You can bake it in a small ramekin along with the peppers. Cook the stuffed peppers at 375 F/190C for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. (The filling might have shrunk down a little, making it easy to add the cheese.)

Put peppers back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan
(Makes 4 large stuffed green peppers, recipe created by Kalyn when her market had a great sale on peppers!)

1 C long-grain brown rice (I used Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but any long-grain rice will work.)
4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
2 links turkey Sweet Italian Sausage (or other sausage of your choice. Use diced mushrooms instead of sausage for vegetarian version.)
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

Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)

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.)

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.

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.

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.

You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.

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