Stuffed Peppers with Ricotta and Italian Sausage

Leaning towers of cheese

Here is a great way to use up some leftover ricotta for a quick weekday meal. Remember to pick peppers that have flat bottoms so they do not tip over while baking.

Sausage and Ricotta Stuffed Peppers

• 3-4 large red bell peppers
• 12 ounces ricotta
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup shredded Romano
• 2 Italian sausages
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1 bunch turnip greens
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Salt/pepper

Cut tops off peppers and remove the seeds and membranes. Dice up the cut off top and place in a large bowl with ricotta and Romano. If you want to leave the tops on the peppers while baking then dice up another red pepper for the filling. Wash and dry turnip greens. Remove the stems from the greens and chop the leaves roughly. Discard the stems. In a large frying pan heat two tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add cut up greens and cook until they wilt. Cut the casing from the sausages and add meat to pan. Break up the sausage into little bits and brown. Add wine and deglaze pan. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated then remove meat mixture from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add meat to cheese and stir well. Crack in egg and beat well. Season with parsley, salt and pepper then spoon filling into pepper halves. Place stuffed peppers in a greased baking dish and cook in the oven at 360 degrees until done, about 30 minutes.

Yes, we like stuffed peppers in this house. Here’s a recipe or ours that calls for ground beef and rice and here’s one that uses pork and vegetables in the filling. We haven’t repeated the same color pepper yet. Pretty impressive!