Stuffed Cubanelle or Italian Peppers

 
Stuffed Cubanelle or Italian Peppers

5-8 cubanelle or Italian peppers tops and seeds removed
1 teaspoon olive oil to sauté onion
1/4 yellow onion peeled and chopped fine
2 garlic peeled and cloves micro-minced
1/4 cup brown rice, cooked 
1/2 pound ground Italian sausage, loose, not in casings
2 inches of asiago or mozzarella cheese, grated
1 egg beaten
1/8 cup gf bread crumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar marinara sauce or can of stewed tomatoes

Cut tops off the cubanelle or Italian peppers, remove seeds being careful not to split the peppers. Set aside. I only had 5 cubanelle peppers so that's what I used. As you can see I let my cubanelle peppers turn red, normally they'd be a pale green color. I pick them when they are just starting to turn red and put them in a cabinet and they turn red in less than a week. I think they get sweeter when they're red.

Cook 1/4 cup brown rice in 1/2 cup water till al dente and place in a bowl to cool. Chop onion and sauté till soft, then add minced garlic and sauté one more minute. Remove from heat and place in the bowl to cool. Add sausage and break up into small pieces and cook till just barely cooked. To the bowl add grated cheese, beaten egg, bread crumbs, oregano, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well.

When mixture is cool enough to handle, stuff the peppers from the top pressing down with a teaspoon and your fingers being careful not to split the peppers. Place half of the marinara sauce in an oiled 9x9 inch baking dish. Arrange peppers in the sauce and pour remainder of sauce over the peppers and bake 45 to 60 minutes till mixture is bubbly and peppers are very soft when poked with a fork on the small end. Let cool slightly before serving. Could be served over some type of pasta if desired. Stuffed peppers may be prepared in advance and refrigerated till ready to bake. Bring to room temperature before baking in that case.

Next time I will not pre-cook the sausage. In order to get the peppers soft enough I had to make it a long time. In that amount of time the sauce would have cooked through and it wouldh ave been more cohesive inside the pepper. Was delicious though. Enjoy!