These stuffed peppers are worth stuffing…into your face, your mouth, your belly. You will stuff yourself silly. I’ve been wanting to share this recipe with you for weeks and the stars have finally aligned.

My friend Julia served these to us a month or two ago…I think that night I might have eaten 3 peppers, but who’s counting? I’m telling you, they are DEEE-LISH.

Without further ado (I think I might say that too much on here…whatever)…the recipe!

Stuffed Peppers Worth Stuffing...

 

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Author: My friend Julia Axtell, with my notes and alterations

Ingredients

• 6-7 bell peppers of various colors, 1¾ to 2 pounds (I went ALL RED. They're the best in my book.)
• 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil (I was out of olive oil - quel horreur! but canola oil worked like a charm)
• ½ medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound sweet or hot italian sausage, casings removed
• 3 cups cooked rice (Julia used basic white rice and it was fabulous. I used a rice blend of Texmati, brown and wild rice and it was soooo yummy.)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
• ½ cup water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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 outside of peppers with olive oil.
3. In a medium frying pan, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 2-4 minutes, or until softened. Crumble sausage meat into pan and cook, stirring to break up lumps, until it begins to lose its pinkness, 5-7 minutes. Drain the fat (use a slotted spoon or pat with papertowels).
4. Slightly beat egg in a large-ish mixing bowl. Add rice, parsley, cheese, salt, pepper and sausage/onion mixture. Mix well.
5. Stuff the bell peppers with rice filling, mounding top slightly. Place peppers in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Mix tomato sauce with water and pour into dish around peppers. Bake 45 minutes.

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One thing that has been so fabulous about having this blog is “meeting” all of YOU! I love the sense of community and the many friends that I’ve picked up along the way, friends I’ve never actually met in person.

Lucky for me I had the chance to meet three of my dear blogging friends last week!  Marie from Make and Takes, Allison from Petit Elefant and Lindsey from Cafe Johnsonia. I knew they’d be amazing women, but they exceeded my expectations. If you haven’t been to these ladies’ blogs, go check them out here and here and here. You’ll love them.

Lindsey was gracious enough to host our get-together at her home, complete with all of our kids in tow.  Which was a lot of kids, by the way.  Lindsey is a fantastic cook (hence her food blog) and made some delicious Sausage Potato Soup (with secret ingredients!!) and homemade Wheat Bread.  It was HEAVEN. In the spirit of recipe sharing, Lindsey shared her soup recipe with me, which you can get below! (Update: I have modified the recipe over the years, adjusting the amounts of ingredients as well as building out the directions in more detail.)

Thank you Lindsey, Marie and Allison for a perfectly lovely afternoon!

Sausage Potato Soup

 

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From Lindsey Johnson (I have modified the recipe a bit over the years from what Lindsey originally sent over, so this is my version below)

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 large or 2 medium potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes
• 1 pound bulk pork Italian sausage
• ¼ onion, chopped
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1½ tablespoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Add a swig of oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Cook onions for a few minutes then add the sausage and cook until no longer pink. Let the sausage stay in larger chunks rather than totally breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain off excess fat.
2. While the sausage and onions are cooking, bring chicken stock to a boil in a large pot. Add potatoes, reduce heat to medium-high and simmer until potatoes are just turning tender.
3. Add the cooked sausage and onions to soup. Add the cream and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Add the vanilla and balsamic vinegar right before serving. Sprinkle pepper over the top, taste and add more salt and/or pepper as needed.

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