Italian Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos

Italian Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos

Serves: 6

Italian Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos 

This is my second jalapeno appetizer. I mistakenly planted two jalapeno plants and they are prolific. I had to figure out some additional recipes featuring these relatively mild peppers. Removing the seeds and ribs not only makes room for the stuffing but also greatly decreases the heat. A mature jalapeño fruit is 2–3½ inches long and is commonly picked and consumed while still green, but occasionally it is allowed to fully ripen and turn crimson red. Good-quality Jalapeno peppers should be firm, smooth-skinned and have solid green coloring. Dry lines are not a blemish. They are signs of a mature pepper and indicate hotness. Avoid peppers that are soft, bruised, or have wrinkled skin or spots of mold. It is considered a moderately hot chili. However, chili peppers are an amazingly complex product. The region, climate, growing conditions, time of harvest all has an impact on the heat. The only real test is to taste one.

This recipe makes a lot of stuffing. Since it is hard to estimate the size of the peppers for stuffing, I would advise to make this quantity and use any leftovers to stuff tomatoes, poblanos or baked potatoes.

• 15-20 jalapenos, cut in half, seeded and deveined.
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1-pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
• 2 Tb minced red onion
• 2 Tb minced red bell pepper
• 1½ Tb minced garlic
• 1 C mascarpone or cream cheese
• 3 Tb grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt & Pepper
• ¼ C shredded mozzarella cheese
• Chopped chives for garnish

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and set a rack in the middle of the oven. Place seeded and de-veined jalapeno halves on a sheet tray and roast for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

Heat 2 tsp canola oil in a medium sauté pan. Add 1-pound mild Italian sausage and cook 7-10 minutes, breaking it up with wooden spoon. Alternatively, if you cannot get the sausage to adequately break down to small piece – you could put the cooked meat into a food processor and pulse it a few times. Return sausage to the sauté pan, add the onions, red bell pepper and garlic and cook to soften for about 5 minutes. Remove and place in a large bowl to cool to room temperature. Then add mascarpone and Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

The sausage stuffing

....now with the cheese.

Turn broiler onto medium. Place approximately 1 Tb of mixture into each jalapeno half, and top with ½ tsp of mozzarella cheese. Place the sheet tray of stuffed peppers in the oven and broil until mozzarella cheese melts.  Sprinkle with chopped chives just before serving.

Ready for the broiler

Serve with beer, Sauvignon Blanc or a Pinot Gris and enjoy!

Larue