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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 is 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 it 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 40-55 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.
This recipe didn’t work for me. The cooking time was too short, even though my pan was covered… I didn’t get to 165 internal temp until 1 1/2 hours and increasing oven temp to 375 convection. Still, the chopped up peppers and onions in the stuffing were not fully cooked. If I were making this recipe again, which I probably will, I will saute the onions and peppers for the stuffing separately before mixing in. I will also cook at 375 convection from the start.
Hi Cookie!
That’s odd as I just made this recipe last week for dinner. I’m wondering if your oven thermometer is reading correctly (trust me, it’s happened to me countless times over the decades). Typically these only take about 35-40 minutes but I put in 40-55 only because some like a more tender pepper. The most important thing is the internal temp.
And just so you know, cooking these at 375 convention is like baking it at 400 non-convection.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
These are absolutely outstanding! The flavors are incredible! These are the best stuffed banana peppers ever!
★★★★★
Thank you so much!!!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
oh how I wish I could show you my pics! My family goes crazy over these! i have to make batches, using Inferno, Medium, and Cubanos, for everyones differing heat levels😆 I make huge batches and freeze them. and make meatballs out of any leftover meat mix. thank you so much!
★★★★★
Yeah!! You can always share a pic on my Facebook page or tag me in your Instagram post. So happy you loved it!
Best Kitchen Wishes!
This was sooo good! Of course I didn’t read all the ingredients before I began cooking so I had to improvise a little. 🤦♀️☺️ I didn’t have the green bell peppers, so I skipped that part. I added some freshly minced garlic and some garlic salt I grabbed from a local garlic vendor at a farmers market. I also didn’t have seasoned breadcrumbs so I used plain panko and added some of the garlic salt and Italian seasoning.
I always love traditional Ragu sauce and just added to it with some sautéed onions and garlic and fresh herbs and a little water to thin it out a bit (not sure if that’s taboo or not! 🤷♀️)
Oh, I also had a few bigger peppers in my bunch, so I rinsed and put them on a baking sheet and in the oven at 350° for about 10-15 mins while I was putting the other ingredients together…glad I did that…softened them up a bit!
Can’t wait to make this recipe again…Happy cooking everyone! 💗
★★★★★