Marry Me Stuffed Peppers: A Twist Worthy of a Marriage Proposal

I used to be very self conscious about the fact that I liked to cook. I went as far as hiding stuffed peppers in the fridge one time when my man came by my house unannounced when we first started dating and that ended up being the first meal I ever cooked for him. That version was the more typical rice and ground meat type of stuffed pepper, but I thought I would mix it up seeing that minced meat is hard to come by here and because the stuffed peppers did ultimately end up in a marriage proposal. If you like marry me chicken, you’re gonna want to try this. 

Marry Me Stuffed Peppers

Serves 6

Wine Pairing:

Cabernet sauvignon 

Ingredients:

6 large red peppers, halfed with the stem removed

3 shallots, diced

2 cups spinach

3 cloves raw or roasted garlic, minced

1 Thai chili pepper, minced or 1 tsp red pepper flakes

4 sausages, chopped

1/2 cup cream cheese

2 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, extra for topping

2 cups mozzarella

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 tablespoons parsley chopped

1 package of small pasta like ditaloni. I used little elbows

1 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Half, stem and core the red peppers and then line them on an oiled cooking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Allow them to cook unfilled while you prep the other ingredients; about 30 minutes. 
2. Begin prepping the filling by boiling water for your pasta and cook for about 5 minutes or until just aldente since the cooking process will continue in the oven. Usually this point is about 2 minutes prior to the instructions on the package.
3. Start making the sauce by melting butter over medium-high heat in a high-sided sauté pan. Add chopped sausages and allow to brown for about 5 minutes, flipping half way through. Add shallots, garlic and red chili pepper and cook for another minute, reducing the heat to low. 
4. Stir in canned chopped tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes before adding the cream cheese and then stir to combine. 
5. To a large mixing bowl, add cooked pasta, sausage and saucy filling, oregano, basil, and parmesan, and mix to combine. 
6. Remove red peppers from oven and allow to cool slightly. Generously fill each pepper with the pasta sausage mixture and top with a mound of mozzarella. 
7. Pop that back in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and just starting to brown. Garnish the stuffed peppers with parsley and get prepared for eminent marriage proposal. 

If you like this recipe, you might like my clam and sausage pasta. Give it a try!