Stuffed Peppers

I decided to make stuffed peppers tonight.  Why?  Because I've never done it.  My mom made stuffed peppers while I was growing up.  One thing I do when I cook is take recipes that my mom makes and tweak them to fit my needs.  That's how I created this recipe.

So here we go.  Here's what you'll need.

• Green or Red Peppers  (Red peppers are obviously the superior pepper, right?)  I only used two, but the recipe could have made enough stuffing for 3 or 4 peppers.
• Hot Italian Turkey Sausage.  We try to be healthy around here, or at least pretend we are, and we like things SPICY!
• Mushrooms, because they make everything better and I mean EVERYTHING!
• One small onion
• A can of diced tomatoes
• Brown or white rice

Start by heating a pan to medium to medium-high heat and about 2-turns/2-seconds worth of olive oil.  I know, very precise.

Then grab your favorite knife (everyone has a favorite knife, right?) and chop up that onion.

Add the diced onion to the pan and give it a stir.  Add some salt and pepper if you wish.

Prepare your peppers. hehe.  Lop off their lids. haha. Alright. Enough.  Remove the seeds and make sure they look pretty.

 Like how pretty these look!

Remove the sausages from their casings.  Break them up and add to pan.  I only used three sausages since I was only making two stuffed peppers.  Crumble with spoon.

Once the sausage is cooked, add your chopped mushrooms.  However much you think is good.  I always say you can't have too many mushrooms, so this was a small amount for my liking.

Once the mushrooms have cooked down, add your cooked rice.

Then add the can of tomatoes.

Because we like things spicy, I added crushed red pepper.  If the sausage is spicy enough for you, don't add it (ya wimp!).

Now stuff your peppers! You will probably be tempted like me to over-stuff, but don't do it!  It will just make a big mess and you'll regret it.

I added a slice of munster to the top of each pepper cause that's what I had and cheese is my life.  I probably should have done this later...you'll see.

Then put the lid of the pepper on top cause it looks purrty and cause I said so.

Place your peppers in a baking dish.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Pepper overboard!  This guy fell over whilst in the oven, but he still tasted good nonetheless.  I think they might have been a little prettier if I had waited to put the munster on.

Beautiful.

And they tasted good, too!

Full recipe:

• 4 Green or Red Peppers
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 package of Hot Italian Turkey Sausage links
• 1 package of mushrooms
• One small onion
• 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 boil-in-bag of Brown or white rice
• 4 slices of cheese (Muenster, provolone, or cheddar recommended)

Preheat oven to 350.  Heat a frying pan to medium to medium-high heat and add olive oil.  Dice onion and add to frying pan.  Cook until onion in soft.  While onion is cooking, prepare peppers by chopping off their tops and removing seeds.  Make sure the peppers can stand up in your baking dish.  If necessary, level out the bottoms. Remove sausage from casings, break into pieces and add to pan.  Break up with fork.  Slice mushrooms and add to the pan when sausage is done cooking.  After mushrooms have cooked. add prepared rice.  Then add can of diced tomatoes.  You can add crushed red pepper and shredded cheese at this point, if you like.  Add stuffing to hollow peppers.  Place top on peppers and cook peppers for about 30 minutes or until pepper is soft.  Five minutes before removing the peppers, add a slice of cheese to the top of each pepper, beneath the lid.  Serve immediately.