Who doesn’t love stuffed peppers? It’s old school comfort food at it’s best. It’s a weeknight family meal that’s simple to make with flavorful fillings packed into a rainbow colored edible vessel. They can be stuffed with starches, meats, cheese, beans or all veggies showcasing even different ethnic cuisines.
Needless to say the combinations are endless and for that reason stuffed peppers will be around for a long long time.
I love using an assortment of rainbow colored bell peppers, they still maintain their color and sweetness after baking, and the different colors make for a pretty presentation.
Cutting the peppers lengthwise allows for more of the filling to be packed into them. These peppers are packed tightly with Italian sausage, onions, garlic, mushrooms, chopped kale and I swapped out of white rice ( which you don’t even miss) for healthier cauliflower rice.
Of course some cheese is involved along with marinara which gives these stuffed rainbow colored peppers a delicious depth of flavor with a nice Italian twist!
Did I mention how good the leftovers are? Be sure to make enough so you can heat one up for lunch the next day you’ll be happy you did.
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- 4 rainbow colored bell peppers, cut lengthwise in half, then scoop out seeds and membrane
- 1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled into small pieces
- 2 cups frozen or fresh chopped riced cauliflower
- 1 onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 handful kale or spinach, chopped
- 6 large cremini mushrooms chopped
- a handful of cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella plus a little extra for garnishing the tops
- ½ cup of grated pecorino
- ½ cup marinara sauce for the filling and enough extra sauce to cover the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon each, chopped basil and parsley
- Heat oven to 375
- Oil the bottom and sides of a 9x12 baking dish.
- Pour enough marinara sauce on the bottom of the baking dish to cover it all over.
- Place the 8 raw halves of the peppers into the baking dish.
- Brown the crumbled sausage in a pan until you see no pink at all, then remove and drain on paper towels.
- Wipe out pan of excess grease then add the onion, garlic and chopped mushrooms, riced cauliflower and cook til slightly soft then toss around and add the chopped kale to let it wilt.
- In a bowl add the drained sausage, cauliflower, cooked onion, garlic, mushrooms, kale, grated cheese, mozzarella, the sliced cherry tomatoes and the ½ cup of marinara sauce and herbs tossing well to incorporate everything.
- Fill each raw pepper with the filling, packing it in.
- Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes then remove pan and change oven temp to 400
- Take the foil off, sprinkle the tops with a tablespoon or 2 of shredded mozzarella and some grated cheese.
- There will be a lot of moisture at the bottom of the pan from the foil being on but the higher temp will reduce it all.
- It's finished when you can say the peppers are nice and tender , test with the tip of a sharp knife and cheese is a little golden.
- Spoon some sauce on top of each and serve.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
