Sweet and Spicy Sausage Stuffed Peppers

Well, hello there! If we haven’t yet been introduced, my name is Tarah and I blog over at What I Gather.

I love gardening, but with the harsh summer we have had this year, my garden didn’t always love me back. My husband and I planted a few poblano pepper plants this Spring and they hung on through the summer, but only recently started producing peppers.

This recipe for Sweet and Spicy Sausage Stuffed Peppers incorporates peppers and even a few other veggies and herbs that may be growing in your garden – sweet potatoes, onions and cilantro. The peppers are first roasted and then stuffed with creamy, chipotle mashed sweet potatoes and topped with a mix of sausage, onion and spices before being roasted again.

Note: If you are growing bell peppers or another medium to large variety of peppers, they could be substituted for the poblano peppers in this dish.

Sweet and Spicy Sausage Stuffed Peppers

Serves: 5
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 40

Ingredients
-5 poblano peppers
-1/2 lb ground pork sausage
-1 medium sweet potato, cubed
-1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
-1/2 yellow onion, diced
-4 button mushrooms, diced
-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
-1/4 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro leaves
-1/2 tsp paprika
-1/2 tsp cumin
-dash of salt and pepper

Directions
-Preheat oven to 450 F. At the same time, begin to boil a medium sized pot with six cups of water.
-Cut tops off poblanos and slice in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and membrane.
-Place peppers on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.
-While peppers are roasting, add cubed sweet potato to pot and boil for 10 minutes.
-Drain pot and add sweet potatoes to a bowl with chopped chipotle pepper. Mash and set aside.
-Remove peppers from oven and let cool enough to handle.
-While peppers are cooling, heat a pan over medium heat.
-Once hot, add the sausage and brown for 2-3 minutes. Add the onion, mushrooms and garlic to the pan and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
-Remove from heat and add chopped cilantro and spices.
-Spread about two tablespoons of sweet potato into each pepper (you may have a little more or a little less depending on the size of the sweet potato) and top with about two to three tablespoons of sausage mixture.
-Return stuffed peppers to the oven for 8 minutes.
-Turn oven to broil and cook for an additional 2 minutes.