Stuffed Peppers with Sausage and Quinoa

Preheat oven to 400 F. Arrange seeded and halved peppers in a shallow pan or Dutch oven with the hollow side facing up. (If you want your peppers to be really soft, blanch them for a few minutes before filling them.)

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering but not smoking, add onions and allow them to cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute) stirring so that the garlic does not burn. Add loose sausage and cook until the sausage is browned through. If you use high quality sausage, there will be no oil to drain at this point. If you used lesser quality sausage, you will need to drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the excess grease.

Add beans, tomatoes, oregano and salt and pepper. I typically roast tomatoes and remove skins in large batches and put them in the freezer for this type of use. So I thaw them and pull them apart with my hands as I put them in the pot. You can also use canned tomatoes. Mix well.

Add the uncooked quinoa and chicken or vegetable stock to the pot and stir well. Allow the mixture to cook together until the quinoa is completely cooked. It will take about 20 minutes. You will be able to see the spiral in the quinoa when it is cooked and the mixture will be thick but juicy. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Use a measuring cup (or coffee mug) to carefully scoop the sausage quinoa mixture and pour it into the hollow peppers, making sure to fill the peppers completely but allowing the mixture and juice to spill over the sides. Once all the peppers are filled, pour remaining juice into the bottom of your pan or Dutch oven. Put the pan into the pre-heated oven and cook for approximately 30 minutes or until the peppers are tender.

Pull the cooked peppers from the oven, top with grated cheese and cook for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!

When I first started planning this dish, I pulled out a pan for the peppers, a pot for the quinoa, a pan to brown the sausage and a saute pan for the veggies. Once I pulled out every cooking contraption I owned, I decided I’d never do this again. What a pain! So I decided to roll the dice and see if I could cook the mixture all in one pot. The result was so delicious!