Italian Stuffed Peppers.

Ingredients:

Two Bell Peppers, Green, Red or both. Caps off seeded and cleaned. Blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinsed in cold water. Note, select peppers wit even bottoms that allow them to stand upright.
2 Sweet Italian Turkey sausages, fresh not pre-cooked.
1 1/2 cups cooked white rice.
1/4 cup onion finely chopped
1/4 cup small diced red pepper.
1/4 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
2 cloves garlic minced
3 cups pasta sauce (I prefer Trader Joes Tomato basil Marinara)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp thyme
salt and pepper.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove casings from sausages and brown in skillet over med-med hi heat.
When the sausage is showing only a little pink add garlic and onion and saute until soft, add red pepper and saute until softened.
Add rice and stir. Add sauce slowly while stirring. The mixture should thick with no running sauce. Alow mix to simmer and allow the moisture to be absorbed before adding more sauce. Add mushrooms and spices. Simmer 5 more minutes.

Spoon mixture into peppers. The peppers should be well filled as the mixture will contract while cooking. Place in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

While in oven heat the rest of the sauce on stove in small uncovered sauce pan. Allow the sause to simmer and cook down, concentrating the flavor.

Plating: cover bottom of plate with sauce. Place the pepper in the center on top of the sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan, and fresh basil if desired.

Some notes: This recipe does not have ANY added fat. The sausages have 6g of fat each, and provides all the fat needed for cooking. The flavors are robust and fresh.