Stuffed Banana Peppers

Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 8 banana peppers
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 lb hot italian sausage
• 1 lb mild italian sausage
• 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

Recipe

• 1 cut off tops of peppers, and remove stuff inside& seeds.
• 2 chop edible portions of tops; set aside.
• 3 bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
• 4 add peppers, reduce heat, and simmer until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes.
• 5 drain and set aside.
• 6 heat butter in a medium skillet.
• 7 saute reserved chopped pepper, onion and celery until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
• 8 stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and garlic.
• 9 season with basil, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• 10 simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
• 11 preheat oven to 350f in a large mixing bowl, combine egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, worcestershire sauce and parmesan.
• 12 mix in hot sausage, mild sausage, bread crumbs and 1 cup of the tomato sauce mixture.
• 13 using a piping bag or, fill each pepper with the meat mixture.
• 14 place in a 3 quart casserole dish, and pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over peppers.
• 15 bake uncovered in preheated oven for 1 hour.