By The ISFA work continues — another kitchen table this week, another young family with numbers that might work. I sat across from a couple in Hamilton County and laid out the grants and watched their faces change from fear to possibility, and the change is the thing I live for now.
Thursday was tater tot hotdish, because Thursday is always tater tot hotdish and the schedule doesn't change for anything — not pandemics, not loss, not the passage of years. The tater tots go in at 375 and come out golden and the family eats them and the eating is the Thursday and the Thursday is the structure and the structure holds. But I also made pot roast with more carrots earlier this week, because the kitchen doesn't only look backward. The kitchen grows.
The garden winding down. Corn stalks brown and leaning. Last peppers picked before frost. Jack's garlic going in — the patience crop, planted now for next July. Nine months underground. The faith that the future needs what the present plants.
When I went out to pull those last peppers before the frost came, I couldn’t bring myself to just roast them plain and call it done — they deserved better than that, the way any last thing deserves a little ceremony. The kitchen that grows doesn’t waste what the garden gives, and stuffing those frying peppers felt like the right way to close the chapter on this year’s harvest: something whole, something filled up, something that takes a little patience and gives back warmth. Here’s how I made them.
Stuffed Italian Frying Peppers
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 8 Italian frying peppers (cubanelle or Anaheim), tops cut and seeds removed
- 1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed (sweet or mild)
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce, plus 1/2 cup for topping
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil and set aside.
- Cook the filling. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 3–4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the sausage, breaking it apart with a spoon, and cook until browned and cooked through, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat.
- Mix the stuffing. Remove the skillet from heat. Stir in the cooked rice, 1/2 cup marinara, 1/4 cup Parmesan, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper until well combined.
- Stuff the peppers. Carefully spoon the filling into each frying pepper, packing gently but firmly. Arrange stuffed peppers in the prepared baking dish in a single layer.
- Top and cover. Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup marinara evenly over the tops of the peppers. Sprinkle with mozzarella and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake covered. Bake covered for 25 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling is heated through.
- Bake uncovered. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and lightly golden.
- Rest and serve. Let the peppers rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm with crusty bread or alongside a simple green salad.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 430 | Protein: 23g | Fat: 24g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 890mg