The other day I tried a new meal: roasted red stuffed peppers with onions, sausage and rice.
This is a good dish because it's a full meal with meat, carbs and vegetables all in one serving.
Having the food in the peppers is a nice touch that is also delicious.
However, the recipe was a little tricky, so there were a few other complications.
To be honest, I think I left the dish in the oven a little too long so the peppers and the rice were both a little overcooked.
I also may have burnt the onions, but it was all good in the end!
This recipe was a good learning experience and the end product was still great.
I originally found this recipe online, so here it is along with my tips!
Ingredients:
- 6-7 red bell peppers
- 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 3 cups cooked rice (I used whole wheat brown rice)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut tops from peppers and remove seeds and ribs. If your peppers don't want to stand up nicely, cut off part of the bottom as well to level the base of the pepper.
Try not to cut through to the inside, but if you do it's not the end of the world. Brush the outside of peppers with olive oil.
3. In a medium frying pan, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat.
4. Add onions and cook for two to four minutes, or until softened.
5. Crumble sausage meat into pan and cook, stirring to break up lumps, until it begins to lose its pinkness (around five to seven minutes). Then, drain the fat by patting the meat with paper towels.
Just a side note — I cooked the sausage and onions separately. The recipe directions said to cook them together, but it takes about twice as long for the onions and sausages to cook.
I put the onion in first and then added the sausage, but the onions burned before the sausage was even close to being done. Cooking the two ingredients separately was much better.
Also, turns out I'm prone to crying while chopping onions.
After looking it up online, I found suggestions to chew gum while chopping (so you breathe through your mouth) or put the onion under water and then chop it (so water absorbs the onion's gas).
Both these tricks are attempts to stop from smelling the onion's odor.
6. Slightly beat the egg in a large mixing bowl. Add cooked rice, parsley, cheese, salt, pepper and the sausage/onion mixture. Mix well.
7. Stuff the bell peppers with rice filling, mounding top slightly.
8. Place peppers in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Mix tomato sauce with water and pour into dish around peppers.
9. Bake 45 minutes.
I found that 45 minutes was a little long, but this can always differ based on one's oven.
For me, the top of the rice got a little dried out, but once I removed this top part, the middle of the stuffed pepper was delicious.
Although this recipe was a little tough and I had a few complications, it was well worth it. Try it out with my suggestions and see how it goes!
