Sausage stuffed peppers
Tender pepper halves packed with Italian sausage, rice and marinara under a bubbly lid of mozzarella.
- 70 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $4.09 a serving
- 760 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 2 red bell peppers
- 2 green bell peppers
- 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 yellow onion, small, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 package microwave rice pouches, 8.8 oz pouch
- 1½ cups marinara sauce, divided
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- ¼ cup grated parmesan
From your pantry
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Each serving has about 760 calories, 34 g protein, 45 g carbs and 49 g fat, and costs about $4.09 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No green bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F. the onion and the garlic.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
the peppers from stem to base, pull out the seeds and white ribs, and set them cut side up in a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Heat a large over medium-high. Add the sausage and onion and cook 7 to 9 minutes, breaking it up, until there’s no pink left.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 8 min
Food safety: Raw pork sausage is done at 160°F and raw chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F. Precooked sausage just needs heating until hot all the way through.
Stir in the garlic and Italian seasoning for 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat.
Medium-high heat
Heat the rice in its pouch as the package says, then stir it into the sausage with 1 cup marinara, 1 cup mozzarella and the parmesan.
Pack the filling into the pepper halves, mounding it up, and spoon the rest of the marinara over the tops.
Dolly’s tip: Press it in firmly. It all fits, even when it looks like too much.Cover the dish with foil and 30 minutes, until the peppers are tender when poked with a fork.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 30 min
Uncover, sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella on top, and 10 minutes more, until bubbly and browned in spots.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 10 min
Let them 5 minutes before serving. To make ahead, fill and refrigerate them covered for up to a day, then add 10 minutes to the covered bake.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 5 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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