Total Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Cooking Time: 90 minutes (30 active)
Ingredients:
4 red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 links of sweet or hot Italian sausage
2 cups frozen chopped spinach, rinsed
1 cup red wine, I recommend Sangiovese
1 1/2 cups baby portobello mushrooms
4 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 can San Marzano canned tomatoes (I prefer Cento)
½ cup pecorino romano cheese
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5-6 leaves of fresh basil, shredded (or dried basil may be used instead)
½ teaspoon of fresh or dried oregano
Directions:
1. Remove sausage from casings. In a large cast iron skillet, cook the sausage, breaking the links up into small, bite-size pieces as you cook. Place a few paper towels on a plate or bowl and transfer the cooked sausage to the dish to allow the excess fat to drain. Use a separate paper towel to carefully soak up and discard extra fat left in the pan.
2. In the same skillet, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook the carrots and onions until the onions are caramelized and the carrots are softened. Add the mushrooms and garlic, and cook a few more minutes until the mushrooms become soft. Then, add the tomato paste and cook for about a minute before deglazing the pan with red wine. Next, stir in the San Marzano tomatoes, being sure to crush them if they are packed as whole tomatoes. Add the sausage back to the pan along with the frozen spinach, crushed red pepper flakes, basil and oregano. Cooking the filling until the spinach has time to warm through, about 5 minutes more.
3. Place the halved peppers on a sheet pan and carefully fill each will an equal amount of the sausage and vegetable filling. Top each pepper half with a dusting of pecorino romano cheese, cover the sheet pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Note: Unlike many stuffed pepper recipes, this one does not contain rice. You can, of course add it if you’d like, but the peppers are great without the extra carbohydrates.
Hungry For Culture 