What you need:
- 4 large green bell peppers
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage (pork or turkey)
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 1/2 cups traditional style pasta sauce (I used Classico), divided
- 1 large egg, slightly beaten
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil, chopped, for garnish
Directions:
- Cut top off of each bell pepper and slice each pepper in half. Remove seeds and membranes. If desired, you can reserve the top (minus the stem) to dice finely to add to the mixture that goes inside the peppers. I do this sometimes to minimize wasting food! I would only add 2 to 3 chopped pepper tops in this recipe, so you can reserve the rest for another recipe - like omelets - YUM!
- Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil and place the eight pepper halves in the dish, inside facing up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, mix together Italian sausage, brown rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, egg, and Parmesan cheese. If you chopped up the top of the peppers, add some of it to this mixture.
- Divide meat mixture equally between peppers and then top with 1 cup pasta sauce.
- Cover with dish with foil and bake in a preheated-375 degree oven for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and uncover. Top each pepper with mozzarella cheese and place under the broiler until cheese is brown and bubbly.
- Garnish with fresh basil and serve!
Recipe slightly adapted from Renee's Kitchen Adventures