Sausage Stuffed Red Peppers

Sausage Stuffed Red Peppers:
Remember the post for Homemade Sausage ?? I have been using it in a lot of different ways and it just makes everything taste better! This post will show you two different ways, stuffed peppers and ravioli. If you don't get a chance to make the homemade sausage, don't worry! You can just take yours out of the casing or use bulk sausage (not linked)! I use turkey or chicken sausage to make this meal healthier! My homemade sausage has little fat, there is nothing to drain at all.

I also wanted to tell you a little about myself in the kitchen! I rarely measure anything and I do alot of "a little bit of this, a little bit of that"! I find if I make more of one thing, i will just use it in something else! That is what happened with this recipe! I knew we would only eat 3 pepper halves.....so i chopped up the fourth half into the leftover pepper stuffing and used it for my wonton ravioli filling in place of what was posted.

Ingredients:
1 lb Bulk Organic Mild Turkey or Chicken Sausage
4 Cups Organic Baby Spinach
16 Ounces Mushroom Cleaned and Diced
12 Ounces Organic Tomato or Marinara Sauce
2 Large Red Stuffing Peppers
2 Cups Cooked Rice (I use organic short grain brown)
1 Cup Weight Watchers Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
(here's the throw in.....if you want to make the ravioli tomorrow, you will need to also get the wonton wrappers, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and whatever sauce you love with your ravioli. You will need to remove 1.5 cups of the stuffing before you add the rice and cheese. Set it aside, i will tell you how to make the ravioli later! If you are not making the ravioli, ignore the side steps and make four pepper halves!

Instructions:
Spray a very large pan with cooking spray and place on med-high heat. Brown sausage, drain fat. Return to pan, add spinach and mushrooms, saute until wilted. (this is where you will want to remove about 1.5 cups of mixture and put in refrigerator for tomorrow if you are making ravioli). Add cooked rice, tomato sauce (eyeball this, don't put too much in, just enough to get it wet) and 1/2 cup of cheese to pan and allow to heat through. Meanwhile, cut and clean peppers into 4 halves. (dice one half pepper if you are going to be making the ravioli and place in a container to use tomorrow). Spray a square baking dish (for 4 peppers) or a bread dish (for 3 peppers) with nonstick cooking spray. Stuff peppers and place in prepared dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Divide and sprinkle remaining cheese on top of each pepper half, return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve with a side salad!

SO...for tomorrow!
Take your diced peppers, saute them until wilted. Add sausage mushroom spinach mixture and cheeses. Go to the wonton ravioli blog page and follow instructions using this as your stuffing!!!!