Bob's Stuffed Banana Peppers

Submitted by Spankie

"This is an awesome recipe that I found on the internet and then again when cleaning out my recipe files a year later. Sure glad I found it!"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 8 banana peppers
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 cup onion, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 lb bulk hot Italian sausage
• 1 lb bulk Italian sausage (mild or sweet)
• 1 1⁄2 cups breadcrumbs

directions

1. Cut tops off the peppers, and remove ribs and seeds. Chop edible portions of tops; set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add peppers, reduce heat, and simmer until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat butter in a medium skillet. Saute reserved chopped pepper, onion and celery until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and garlic. Season with basil, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan. Mix in hot sausage, mild sausage, bread crumbs and 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture.
4. Using a piping bag or sausage stuffer, fill each pepper with the meat mixture. Please in a 3 quart casserole dish and pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over peppers.
5. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 1 hour.
6. You can also place the stuffed peppers upright in a crockpot or slow cooker, cover with tomato sauce and cover; cook on high or low heat depending on the time available, until tomato mixture is boiling and meat is cooked through.

Reviews

[The Bread of Life]

I had to write a review since I've made this twice now and my husband absolutely loves this dish. I actually found this recipe by the same name on another site. Many reviews were submitted and was a smash hit. I learned from the reviews that 2 lbs of meat is simply too much for just 8 peppers. So I prepare this with just 1 lb of meat and I use mild Italian chicken sausage. I also cook the sausage first and try to get a few caramelized bits in there. As I cook the sausage I use a potato masher to try and "declump" the sausage. After it has cooked, I dump the sausage onto a plate covered with paper towel to soak up the olive oil and any fat before I prepare the sausage mixture. Because I use only 1 lb of sausage I cut the ingredients for the sausage mixture in half, except for the egg. Speaking of the egg, this recipe doesn't state where/when to use the egg, but it's to act as the glue for the sausage mixture. With 1 lb of meat, I was able to make 7 stuffed peppers (super stuffed and of good size) with enough left over just to plug up (just at the opening) 3 peppers that I stuffed only with fresh mozzarella cheese. I've used both anaheim and cubanelle peppers. The first time I made this recipe I boiled the peppers as instructed and last night I didn't. Near the end of the baking time, I add mozzarella on top and take the dish out after it has melted. I put crushed red peppers on the table for those who would like to add a bit more heat to their dish. You'll find that this recipe is very similar (make it extremely similar) to recipe # 92892 Stuffed Banana Peppers on this site.

 

[butterflyqueen21]

Made this recipe many times over 11 years of marriage to my husband. First time because a family's neighbor had to many to eat themselves. We love spicy foods and the combination of everything together is amazing! 2lbs is a lot of meat but we just put in on the sides for meatballs.

 

[ms.susan]

This is a FANTASTIC tasting recipe! I served it with crusty bread and a green salad. It was a hit with the teenagers.