This recipe is inspired by my family recipe as well as an old WW recipe from the 90s. I've added my own spin to give it lots of flavor while keeping it healthy. Peppers are stuffed with ground turkey and/or chicken sausage, and filled with lots of basil and garlic. This recipe makes 8 full pepper halves.
4bell peppers, cut in half through the stem and cleaned
1small tomato, finely chopped
1½lbsground meatI usually use 1 pound ground turkey and ½ pound of raw italian chicken or turkey sausage
1onion, finely chopped
4-5clovesgarlic, minced
3tbspbread crumbsI use gluten free, but you can also leave these out
2eggs
½cupshredded romano/parmesan/asiago cheeseplus more for topping
large handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
1tspgarlic powder
½cupshredded mozzarella cheeseoptional, can also just top with romano/parmesean
1 - 1½cupstomato sauce or canned diced tomato
olive oil for drizzling
salt and pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°FSpray a 9 x 1 3 baking dish with nonstick spray or coat with oil
Place peppers (cut in half) in a microwave safe dish. I use the same 9x13 glass baking dish I plan to use for roasting. Cover with plastic wrap and poke a couple of holes in the plastic wrap. Microwave on medium until tender, 6 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine meat, chopped tomato, onion, garlic, garlic powder, egg, bread crumbs, romano/parmesan, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
Let the peppers cool a bit so you can handle them. Stuff peppers with the meat mixture, pressing lightly. Place in the baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400° until filling is slightly browned, 25-30 minutes.
Spoon tomato sauce over peppers and bake 15-20 minutes more, until the sauce is bubbling. You can also use canned diced tomatoes in lieu of the sauce. Add mozzarella and/or parmesan/romano cheese on top of the peppers for the last 5-10 minutes of baking to melt.
Check the meat for doneness. Larger peppers with more stuffing may take a little bit longer, smaller pepper with less stuffing may not take quite as long!