Italian Stuffed Peppers with Asiago

Italian Stuffed Peppers with Asiago Cheese, Hot Italian Sausage, Arborio Rice, and Asiago cheese are recipes that completely blow the average stuffed pepper recipe right out of the water. The flavors and textures are a marriage made in heaven when it comes to food.

Stuffed Peppers were seriously the rage when I was growing up in the ’80s. My mom made them almost weekly with plain ground beef and rice mixture with basic tomato sauce baked in the oven. Some were upgraded to browned ground beef and sausage in green pepper and so on—very minimal ingredients, to say the least, but with decent flavor. I used to gobble those mediocre Stuffed Peppers up like there was going be no tomorrow.

I always think of my lovely little “Nonna” when I make stuffed peppers. Of course, I laugh in delight, thinking of her cooking with a Parliament cigarette hanging out of her lips. I often wonder if we had eaten any ash-laced dinners over the years? I almost want to laugh and cry over the thought of it all. Her stuffed peppers were the best, though, packed with a ton of flavor from herbs, hot sausage, and special rice that mom rarely used unless she was making a rice dish.

I used to love how everything she cooked was just short of being a work of art. She took the time and energy to make the flavors and ingredients balance out to perfection. There was never a dull dinner at Nonna’s house, and that included her stuffed peppers. She used to make Stuffed Peppers about 4 different ways depending on what she had in the icebox at the time. The best ones were the Italian Stuffed Peppers with Asiago Cheese, in my personal opinion.

Are these Authentic Italian Stuffed Peppers? I really don’t think I would call them 100% authentic Italian. I would say they are my Grandmother Italian-American Version of stuffed peppers. I remember once being told by her sister about her stuffed peppers when they first came to America. It was more of a breadcrumb, herb, raisins type of recipe. I have yet to make that one as I am still trying to get it from one of the family members.

 Stuffed Peppers with Italian Sausage 

• 1 pound of ground hot Italian sausage
• 1/2 pounds of lean ground beef
• 2-3 cups of seasoned organic tomato purée
• 1 cup grated Asiago cheese
• 2/3 cup cooked Arborio rice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1  organic Roma tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 large red bell pepper, halved seeds removed
• 2 large yellow bell pepper halved, seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• kosher salt, to own taste
• fresh ground pepper, to own taste

Print Recipe

5 from 6 votes

Italian Stuffed Peppers with Asiago

Italian Stuffed Peppers with Asiago Cheese, Hot Italian Sausage, Arborio Rice, and Asiago cheese is one of the recipes that completely blows the average stuffed pepper recipe right out of the water. The flavors and textures are a marriage made in heaven when it comes to food.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: Italian Sausage, Stuffed Peppers

Servings: 8

Calories: 403kcal

Author: hmccallum

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground hot Italian sausage browned
• 1/2 pound Lean ground beef browned
• 2-3 cups Seasoned organic tomato purée 1/2 cup reserved
• 1 cup Grated Asiago cheese
• 2/3 cup Arborio rice cooked
• 4 cloves Garlic minced
• 2 Organic Roma tomatoes diced
• 1 small Onion minced
• 2 large Red Bell Peppers halved, seeds removed
• 2 large Yellow Bell Peppers halved, seeds removed
• 2 tablespoons Fresh Basil chopped
• 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
• Kosher salt to own taste
• Ground Pepper to own taste

Instructions

• Cut each bell pepper in half lengthwise, and discard seeds. Remove the white membranes.
• Place peppers in a large steamer, steam 2-3 minutes, remove from steamer instantly.
• Arrange pepper halves in a glass oven-safe baking dish.
• In a frying pan, add ground beef, sausage, garlic, onion, season with salt and pepper. Brown meat. Drain any unwanted juices and or fat content off of meat. Return the mixture to the skillet. Add diced tomatoes, oregano, 1/4 cup of tomato purée, stir in the cooked Arborio rice.
• Fill each pepper with meat and rice mixture. Top with a small amount of seasoned organic tomato purée and Asiago Cheese.
• Bake, in an oven-safe baking dish, at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 01 | Calories: 403kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 656mg | Potassium: 794mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1964IU | Vitamin C: 149mg | Calcium: 191mg | Iron: 4mg

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