Info
- Course: Antipasto/Mezze, Main Course
- Skill Level: Moderate
- Cost: Moderate
- Favorited: 12 Times
Can be made ahead of time.
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Peppers Stuffed with Rice and Sausage
Cookbook
Peperoni Ripieni di Riso e Salsiccia
Almost any vegetable can be stuffed, but peppers are particularly suitable because of their container-like shape. This is how vegetables are stuffed in German-speaking italy’s Trentino–Alto Adige, where they are called gefülltes gemüse in the local dialect.
Yield : For 8 people
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 bell peppers, a mixture of red and yellow
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 ¼ cups long-grain white rice
- 1 ¾ cups plus 3 tablespoons full-flavored chicken stock, beef stock, or veal stock
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly milled black pepper, or to taste
- 4 sweet Italian fennel sausages (about ¾ pound), casings removed and meat crumbled
- 2 ounces soppressata salame, cut into small dice
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed, pulverized in a spice grinder or in a mortar
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano
- 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 ounces mozzarella, cut into 8 same-sized cubes
- Additional olive oil for oiling baking dish
Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the whole bell peppers and sauté until colored on all sides but still firm to the touch, 5 to 7 minutes. If they do not all fit into the pan at once, sauté them in batches to give them enough room to color properly. Remove from the heat and let cool. Slice the top off each pepper and reserve the tops. Scoop out and discard the seeds and ribs, being careful not to pierce the walls of the peppers, and set aside.
2. Drain off all but 2 table spoons of the oil in the pan (reserve the drained oil) and place the pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until it softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the 1-¾ cups stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Taste for salt.
3. Meanwhile, in a second skillet, sauté the sausage meat in a little of the oil reserved from browning the peppers (if necessary, use additional olive oil) until it colors but is not hard, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the cooked rice, soppressata, fennel, parsley, parmigiano, and garlic. Taste for salt and pepper. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Fill the peppers with the rice mixture and insert a cube of mozzarella into the center of the stuffing. Replace the pepper tops.
4. Oil a baking dish ample enough to hold all the peppers without crowding them. Arrange the stuffed peppers in the dish upright and add the 3 tablespoons stock to the dish. Cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil, dull side out, and bake in the oven until the peppers are tender but still hold their shape, about 30 minutes. Allow to settle for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Serve hot or warm.
Notes
AHEAD-OF-TIME NOTE: This dish can be prepared up to the point where it goes into the oven 1 to 2 days in advance, or fully cooked 1 to 2 days in advance and then reheated. In either case, store, covered, in the refrigerator. To reheat, cover and place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.
© 1993 Julia della Croce
Nutritional Information
Nutrients per serving
Nutritional information includes 1 tablespoon of olive oil for oiling the baking dish.
448 kcal
8 % daily value
163 % daily value
2 % daily value
465 mg
33 mg
15 g
4 g
3 g
31 g
48 mg
878 mg
8 g
29 g
9 % daily value
