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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:
- Buttermilk Waffles
- Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers
- Crispy Baked Zucchini & Squash Fries
- Potato Croquettes
- Hands down the best crab cakes you will ever eat
- Dill Cream Sauce for the hands down best crab cakes you will ever eat
- Stuffed Artichokes
- 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
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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 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon 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
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Cut the tops off of the peppers and set them aside (throwing away the stem itself).
- 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.
- Remove the rib and seeds; discard.
- 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.
- 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.
- Gently open up the pepper and stuff with the meat mixture slightly mounding.
- Place each filled pepper in a 9×13” baking dish.
- 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.
- Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes or when an inserted meat thermometer into the sausage reads 160-165F.
- Remove foil and top with remaining cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
I thought I had to go to a good Italian restaurant to get delicious stuffed hot peppers, but NOPE! I made your recipe, and they were actually the best I’ve ever eaten and made by me! Followed your recipe to a “t” and the peppers were delicious! Thank you!
Awe thank you so much Gina!!! So happy you loved it!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Excellent recipe! My husband said they were the best stuffed peppers he’s ever had! The amount of sausage seems a little excessive as I only used 1.5 pounds and was left with .5 pounds leftover. I would recommend reducing the sausage (you can keep everything else the same), increasing the peppers to 10 – 12 and I also mixed Fontina cheese with Mozzarella. Fontina melts so well and has a nice flavor.
Since I had so much leftover, I put the excess in a vacu-seal pouch and have it sitting in the fridge. I’m wondering if this will be okay to make into breakfast sausages for breakfast sandwiches this morning?
★★★★★
I just made stuffed peppers, very good. I was wondering if you can freeze them?? If so, how can you do it??
Absolutely! Let them cool completely after they are baked (never freeze them raw!). Wrap individually or place in a freezer safe dish and wrap tightly with plastic wrap them foil or freezer bags.
When you want them just thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat at 350F until heated through.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
This recipe was excellent. We have a wood fired pizza oven so I tried cooking the peppers in it instead of in the oven. Fabulous! I used a variety of peppers, sweet and hot, seeded and not seeded for the spicy folks. It was a hit and a recipe I’ll return to over and over again.
★★★★★
So happy you loved it Erin! I make these in my wood-fired pizza oven as well. I love the flavor the wood imparts on it. Thank you so much for the kind words!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I made this with one minor modification. I used equal weight of sweet Italian and hot Italian sausage (just because that’s what I had!) The recipe could have easily filled twice as many peppers – straight from my garden. My guests and more importantly, my husband loved it! Noone complained of the heat.. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
★★★★★
Oh awesome!!! These freeze beautifully too! Thank you so much for the kind words!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
A go to recipe I use over and over
Thank you so much Dan! So happy you love it!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
This recipe is EXACTLY how you want to make stuffed banana peppers! You can use either regular banana peppers for a mild kick or hungarian wax peppers for way more heat. Personally, I used the wax peppers as I love all things hot and spicy. You can also use less hot sausage and more mild if you need it toned down more.
Do yourself a favor. When cooking – double the recipe and freeze the leftovers. I don’t know why but they seem to get even better after you reheat them! Flavors melding together, maybe? When you’re ready for your next stuffed banana pepper “fix” just pull them out of the fridge and pop them into the oven (covered with foil) and you’re set!
If you don’t have those latex food gloves Lori spoke about then heed this advice: Do NOT touch your eyes or face after handling hot peppers. Immediately wash and dry your hands when finished handling. The hotter the pepper you use the worse off you’ll be if you don’t. I learned the hard way with habaneros. Dang, that was painful, trust me!
I rarely comment on cooking sites but just had to for this incredible recipe.
Awesome job, Lori. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
I want to make these and immediately freeze. I saw your above comment about you baking first. Do I still add the cheese when I bake them?
Can I make these a day ahead and refrigerate to reheat next day?
Hi Kelly,
Absolutely! When I freeze these I always bake first then freeze.
Best Kitchen Wishes!