Italian style Stuffed Peppers

Italian Vegetable

Ingredients

  • 4 red bell peppers seeded. If they are large, cut in half across the center as to make two cups, not lengthwise. If they are small, just cut the top with the stem. Any color pepper will do.
  • 1 loaf of stale Italian bread. If you run short just throw in any additional bread you have lying around.
  • 1/2 cup of chicken stock
  • Some good olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 celery stalk diced including leafs
  • 2 cloves garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 cup of diced pepperoni
  • 8-10 pitted black olives sliced,
  • Small handful of chopped flat parsley
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Hot red pepper flakes or liquid type crushed pepper seeds to taste (optional)
  • 2-3 cups of marinara sauce or a 15 ounce can tomato sauce will do just fine.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 - 400 degrees. In a baking dish, large enough to hold the peppers up straight, rub the bottom with some oil, coat peppers with oil as well and set aside. Crumble the bread in a large bowl with a splash chicken stock if available if not use water and just to moisten. Toss by hand and set aside.

In a sauté pan on med. / high add a little olive oil and bring up to temp., add the celery, pepperoni and onion and sauté until onion is translucent. Add garlic and parsley let cook for about 20 -30 seconds. Add all contents from the pan into the bowl of bread. Add olives, S & P to taste, hot pepper to taste and a good splash of the sauce. Fold in well but don't make mush out of it. Stuff the peppers right to the top and coat with some sauce. Add additional sauce and a splash of water to the bottom of the baking dish. Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 - 45 minutes or until peppers are tender. Baste occasionally with sauce and for the last 10 minutes or so transfer the dish to highest shelf in the oven to brown the tops slightly.
This can be served at just about any temp. Now it's time to mangiare with a nice glass of vino rosso.


Simple but delicious! This was something my Mother would usually make on Saturday morning and just keep them warm on the stove top for the stragglers the would pop by for lunch. Saturday was like an open house at my parent's house and everyone knew it. I would stop by, my brothers, my friends, my kids, their friends. No matter who would show up, she always managed to pull enough food. Those days are gone; no one seems to hang around their kitchen stove anymore just waiting for company to pop in. My Mother was a housewife her entire adult life and the only life she knew was her dedication in taking care of the family, and I'm talking generations.

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Submitted 9/30/05.
Source: SOUTH SIDE SOCIAL CLUB COOKBOOK
Submitted By: VINCENZO PAOLI NO
vin.paolino@verizon.net
Italian style Stuffed Peppers