Italian Stuffed Peppers

Well if you haven’t heard on my Facebook already, we had a DUMPING of snow this week. around 50cm here… that’s CRAZY! Just a few weekends ago, Clint and the girls (yes Hazel too) were outside on a Saturday evening having an evening winter bonfire and it was NOT cold… barely even any snow! Now… well let’s just say it took Clint around 4 hours WITH a friend (on a tractor with a snow plow) to clean out the driveway after he got stuck trying to make it up the laneway after work. #CanadianWinterProblems

To help warm him up after working outside the in the blowing cold snow, I made him a warm (and yes, very easy) dinner of Italian Stuffed Peppers topped with melted parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, along with baked potatoes and a salad. It was the perfect way to warm up and fill up after the snow storm of 2016!

I used mini-peppers which meant less cooking time, and perfectly portioned out servings for the girls. Also, I found using a blend of cheeses really helped intensify the filling flavours, but you can use any cheese that will get melty and stringy in the oven!

The Ingredients:

• 3 mild or hot Italian Sausages
• 8 mini peppers, assorted colours
• 2 tbsp Basil Infused Olive oil (using regular olive oil is fine, but add basil as a spice)
• 1/3 cup sweet white onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp basil (or more if you used regular olive oil)
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

The How-To:

1. Preheat you oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large non-stick pan, add olive oil. Over medium heat crumble sausage and cook until no longer pink.
3. Add onion and cook until translucent.
4. Add the oregano, basil and thyme. Continue cooking until onions are browned. Remove from heat.
5. In the meantime, slice the peppers in half lengthwise. Remove any seeds and stem.
6. In a medium sized casserole pan dd the chicken broth. This will help cook the peppers and prevent burning/sticking.
7. Arrange the peppers cut side up. Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of sausage mixture into the peppers.
8. Cover with tin foil and place in the oven for about 30 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven, remove the tin foil, and top each pepper with the cheese blend.
10. Bake uncovered for about 10 minutes longer or until cheese is bubbly.

I love stuffed peppers. They are such a great meal and there are so many ways to make them. This is just one off our favourites, and they really do make a perfect pot luck dish as well! Have you made them before? How do you like your stuffed peppers? 

Related posts:

Prosciutto Wrapped & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Cook Once Eat Thrice: Italian Chicken Nachos Italian Sloppy Joes Cook Once Eat Thrice: Italian Style Chicken