Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers

So the other day Papa Fantabulous was up helping out Mr. Fantabulous on the remodeling of our entire downstairs.  Now you have to realize, what my darling husband decided to do when he said “Honey, I’m going to remodel the downstairs” was not some small undertaking.  Should I point out that he started this 3.5 years ago?  ANNNNNNNNNNNNND that I’ve had bare floors, walls and ceilings down there for  3.4 years and 5 months?  Nah.. I shouldn’t.  Wouldn’t want to do the “I TOLD YOU IT WASN’T GOING TO TAKE 3 MONTHS… HONEY!”  No, *I* would never do that… more than 37 times *blush*

*sigh* but I can’t be too upset as it is actually getting done.

Anyway, with both boys here all day I had a busy day of cooking.  Since I knew Mama Fantabulous wasn’t going to be here *sniffle.. I so love when she’s here* I was home free on making spicy foods.  See Papa Fantabulous puts crushed pepper flakes on everything.  I mean EVERYTHING!

So while they were hammering/cutting/sawing/swearing/laughing/swearing more and making more noise than a heard of elephants I was busy cooking all day long.

In one day I made them the following:

1. Buttermilk Waffles
2. Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers
3. Crispy Baked Zucchini & Squash Fries
4. Potato Croquettes
5. Hands down the best crab cakes you will ever eat
6. Dill Cream Sauce for the hands down best crab cakes you will ever eat
7. Stuffed Artichokes
8. Peach Galette

Now per Papa Fantabulous, the peppers were ‘Perfect!’ but my darling husband was sweating bullets 3 bites into it.  He said it was “really hot honey but I can’t stop eating it as it’s THAT good!” So if you can’t handle hot stuff you could easily use all mild Italian sausage…. wuss *wink*

Also, the picture isn’t the prettiest – turns out these things really don’t photograph that well.  But it’s just incentive for me to make them again, right?

Now these would be perfect for a weeknight meal, pot luck, KILLER for  tailgating or a football game or a Friday night poker night (INVITE ME.. I LOVE me some poker!).

Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers

• Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

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Ingredients

• 6–8 Banana or Hot Peppers
• 1 1/2 pounds hot sausage
• 1 pound mild sausage
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• Tops (minus the stems) of the peppers, chopped small
• 1/4 cup green peppers, chopped small
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 1/2–3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 3–3 1/2 cups Marinara Sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cut the tops off of the peppers and set them aside (throwing away the stem itself).
3. Wearing rubber/plastic gloves, take a knife and chop off the top of the peppers and run the knife on the top about 1/4” from the tip to the top of the pepper. You don’t want to split them in half. You want the pepper whole but have the slit so you can stuff it.
4. Remove the rib and seeds; discard.
5. In a separate bowl, add the sausages, onion, green and hot pepper tops, spices, ¾ cup of the mozzarella, egg, bread crumbs (start with a 1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup marinara sauce.
6. Gently mix to incorporate. If the mixture it too wet add the rest of the bread crumbs. You want the mixture more on the moist side. It should be semi-loose in structure.
7. Gently open up the pepper and stuff with the meat mixture slightly mounding.
8. Place each filled pepper in a 9×13” baking dish.
9. Add the marinara sauce over top of the peppers – at a bare minimum you want to use at least 1 1/2 cups. You can add more if you want more sauce.
10. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes or when an inserted meat thermometer into the sausage reads 160-165F.
11. Remove foil and top with remaining cheese.
12. Bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

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