Stuffed Banana Peppers

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Adapted from allrecipes.com
Great recipe! Used a lot more peppers than the recipe called for. Cut peppers in half and just spooned on the filling. Poured sauce over top and topped with cheese. Can eat as is or serve over rice, pasta, or cabbage pasta. We served over cabbage pasta and it was great! One reviewer also suggested adding ricotta cheese into the filling. I didn't do that but I think it would be good!

Ingredients

• 8 banana peppers (I also used poblano peppers and bell peppers)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (use more, at least 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped celery (or more)
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided (may need less, especially if using sausage that has salt already added)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound hot Italian sausage (I substituted ground beef)
• 1 pound mild Italian sausage (I substitued ground beef)
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
• Spaghetti sauce
• Mozzarella or cheddar Cheese for melting on too.

Details

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Cut off tops of peppers, and remove ribs and seeds. Chop edible portions of tops; set aside.
Heat butter in a medium skillet. Saute reserved chopped pepper, onion and celery until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and garlic. Season with basil, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan. Mix in hot sausage, mild sausage (or ground beef), bread crumbs and 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture.
Using a piping bag or sausage stuffer (I just used a spoon), fill each pepper with the meat mixture. I used many, many more peppers than the recipe called for (banana, poblano, bell). Place in a 3 quart casserole dish, and pour remaining tomato sauce (I used additional spaghetti sauce too) mixture over peppers.
Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 1 hour. I froze some of these before baking for a future meal. Thawed them out and baked them and they were great!