Recipe for ITALIAN STUFFED RED PEPPERS

ITALIAN STUFFED RED PEPPERS
Entrees
Contributed by: Annelle Williams
Ingredients: 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1â�„2 lb. lean ground beef 1â�„2 lb. mild Italian sausage 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper 1 TBS dried Italian herbs 11â�„2 cups prepared tomato sauce, divided 2 oz. capacolla or prosciutto, roughly chopped 2 oz. hard salami, roughly chopped 1â�„3 cup roughly chopped parsley 3â�„4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese 2 cups cooked rice 6 medium red peppers
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. SautÃ© onion in two tsp. olive oil over medium heat. When onion becomes transparent, add garlic and sautÃ© for another minute; add ground meats. Continue to sautÃ© until meat loses red color. Drain any excess grease from pan. Add salt, pepper and Italian herbs and stir until blended. Add half the tomato sauce, capacolla, salami and chopped parsley. Stir in Parmesan cheese and cooked rice. Cut tops away from each pepper and remove seeds. Fill each pepper with meat mixture. Choose a casserole dish that will hold stuffed peppers snugly. Cover bottom of dish with remaining sauce and stand peppers in casserole. Cover with foil and bake for one hour, or until peppers become tender. Serve, spooning a little sauce over each pepper.
(This recipe was contributed as part of a "Cook of the Week" feature.)