Photo by Copyright 2014 Deborah Kaplan

As a child, my Mom would make non-traditional stuffed green peppers made with mushroom soup. The thick mushroom soup was also used as a gravy. When I got married I didn’t cook stuffed peppers mainly as DH didn’t like peppers. So when my Mom would make some for Dad and herself, she would make an extra one for me. Also occasionally I would buy frozen ones from the supermarket which were the traditional hamburger, rice with tomato sauce. Eventually I created my version of traditional stuffed peppers for myself and our kids. DH still turned his nose up at them. Eventually, DH began to eat raw bell peppers in salads, so I decided to serve him stuffed peppers one night for dinner. At first he balked, until I told him he didn’t have to eat the pepper. After eating the stuffing, he suddenly decided to try the pepper. To his surprise and mine he loved it. He had convinced himself all those years that he didn’t like them. The funny thing is, he raved about the recipe below, and asked me, “Can you tell me why I didn’t like these before?”

Ingredients:

• 2 bell peppers (whole; red)
• 1/2 bell pepper flesh
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion (sweet)
• 3 links bratwurst
• 1/4 cup ranch salad dressing
• 4 tablespoons ranch salad dressing
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Cut tops off (set tops aside) whole peppers, remove seeds.
2. Place whole peppers in a pot full of water with enough water so peppers don’t touch the bottom of pot, filling the insides of the peppers with water too.
3. Bring to a boil, (about 15 minutes) then turn it off, and drain water.
4. Chop the pepper flesh off around the stems on the tops and discard stems.
5. Dice the 1/2 pepper flesh along with the pieces removed from around the stem, and set aside.
6. Peel, and dice onion.
7. Place onion and pepper pieces in microwaveable dish and microwave them for two minutes. Stir and microwave for an additional minute.
8. Melt butter in a skillet, add onions and pepper pieces, saute for 10 minutes on medium heat stirring frequently.
9. Remove peppers and onions setting aside.
10. Slice the end off of each bratwurst and squish the innards out of the casings, discarding the casings.
11. Cook the bratwurst for 10 minutes on medium heat turning them and browning them until no pink.
12. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
13. Drain grease from skillet.
14. Course chop the bratwurst adding it in a bowl with the peppers and onions.
15. Add 1/4 cup of ranch dressing and mix well.
16. Line a loaf baking dish with foil or coat with cooking spray.
17. Place whole pepper bottoms into the baking dish with hollow side up.
18. Stuff the peppers with the bratwurst mixture.
19. Top each pepper with two tablespoons ranch dressing.
20. Then top each pepper with equal amounts of cheese.
21. Bake for 20 minutes.
22. .Enjoy

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 60 minutes

Baking Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2