Italian Stuffed Peppers Awesome!

A couple of months ago I made stuffed peppers using some leftover Mexican Rice that I had.  They were AMAZING!!  A couple of days ago I decided I wanted stuffed peppers again but this time - no leftover rice - so I made it following the recipe exactly this time.  More or less exactly anyway.  I never follow a recipe right down the line exactly but I didn't change much.

They turned out really well, just as they did before.  My husband and I both loved them again.  I prefer the Mexican version, Hubs prefers the Italian version.  I'll def make them both again.  I love that this recipe tells you to cut the peppers in half.  All others I've seen tell you to just cut off the top and fill it but that makes it difficult to eat, in my opinion.

These peppers are soft but not mushy.  They still have a little body to hold up the meat/rice mixture but easily cut by a fork.  The flavor is awesome and so are the leftovers.  This would feed 4 big eaters, 6-8 normal eaters.

The recipe is below - so what did I change? First I made my own fav marinara sauce which makes probably 5-6 cups and I used every bit of it.  I used more meat and rice so I had more filling than the recipe called for so I guess that's why I needed all the sauce.  The sauce recipe isn't technically a part of the stuffed pepper recipe but I've included it below.

I used 8 oz Italian sausage and 1 lb hamburger cooked together.  I did not use fennel at all.  I used a beautiful sweet Vidalia onion.  I didn't realize I was out of long-grain rice so I made Minute Rice.  I had more meat so I made 2 cps of rice.

I went to two stores looking for a block of provolone cheese to shred but it was not meant to be.  I used shredded mozzarella instead.  I did not put bread crumbs on top and we sprinkled parmesan on top of our individual servings.

So, that's me following a recipe 'exactly'.  😉

ITALIAN STUFFED PEPPERS

4 bell peppers - red, green or yellow
1 lb sweet Italian sausage
1/2 bulb fennel, chopped (cut the bulb in half and then cut out the very center part of it, then chop the rest)
1/4 cp onion, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt & Pepper

1 cp partially cooked long grain rice
1 1/2 cps provolone cheese, shredded
3 cps marinara sauce, divided 
1/4 cp Italian bread crumbs 
1/4 cp grated parmesan cheese

Cut the tops of the bell peppers and clean out the seeds and ribs. Place upside down in a steamer and steam 5 min.  I did this in my pressure cooker.  5 min was the perfect amount of time. 

Remove the sausage from the casing and brown it in a skillet. Add the fennel, onion, parsley, salt and pepper and cook until the fennel and onion are nicely carmelized - about 10 min. 

NOTE - Cook the long grain rice about 10 min so it's only partially cooked. It will go in the pepper and finish cooking there. 

To combine: In a large bowl add the rice, provolone cheese and marinara sauce. Stir until it's all mixed together nicely. Now add the sausage and mix up again. Cut the bell peppers in half and fill with the stuffing mixture. 

Put about 1 cp of marinara sauce in the bottom of your baking pan and spread it out. Place the stuffed peppers in the baking pan. Spoon another cp or so of marinara sauce over the top of them, sprinkle with a little Italian bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese, bake in a 350* oven for 30 min.

CHUNKY MARINARA SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 small onions, rough chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoon basil

2 teaspoon parsley

2 teaspoon oregano

1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian style diced tomatoes

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 tablespoon white sugar

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir onions, 4 min.  Add the minced garlic and cook another 4 min so it all carmelized nicely.  Stir in the herbs and then add the tomato sauce, tomato paste and diced tomatoes.  Stir well to combine the flavors.  

Cover and simmer for at least 1 hr. The longer the better. About 15 minutes before serving, stir in the sugar. 

Personal Notes: The sugar isn't necessary for the taste, but it isn't there for sweetness. Tomatoes contain a lot of acidity and the addition of a little sugar balances it and creates a "smoother" sauce (salt, carrots, and baking soda help as well).