Sausage Cornbread Stuffed Peppers

I used to make this dish all the time, then forgot about it until this afternoon when I was trying to find something for dinner and found 4 beautiful bell peppers in the fridge. These peppers were meant to be a part of a pot of gazpacho, but we ended up eating the other ingredients in other meals. 

These peppers are not the usual stuffed pepper which I think includes some sort of rice and hamburger. Instead, these have sort of a tex-mex kind of flavor with sausage and (cheat here) a box of Stove-Top Cornbread Stuffing. If you have a batch of leftover cornbread, you could by all means break that up and use it.

But I like the Stove Top Stuffing!

My mom has always hated Stove-Top Stuffing so we never had it at our house. I remember as a kid going to my friends for dinner and loving the salty-herb side dish and wishing my mom would make it for us. It's all the salt right...that's why it tastes so good.

Anyway, this recipe is a fast, tasty dish that sort of throws-together and makes good use of too many bell peppers.

Sausage Cornbread Stuffed Bell Peppers

4 bell peppers
a 1 lb tube of your favorite ground sausage (I use Jimmy Dean Breakfast)
1 onion chopped
1 can sweet corn
1 can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (drained)
1 box Cornbread Stove-Top Stuffing
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
 optional (red pepper flakes, cumin, chili powder, Cayenne pepper, your favorite hot sauce etc.) 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Slice bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove stems and seeds. Place in a greased baking dish hollow side up. 

Prepare stuffing according to the directions. Set aside.

In a skillet, brown the sausage. When the sausage is almost browned through add the onion and cook until translucent.

Mix in the can of corn and tomatoes and any additional seasonings. (a pinch of red pepper flakes, cumin, chili powder, Cayenne pepper, or your favorite hot sauce etc.)

Remove from heat and add the stuffing. Mix until well incorporated.

Spoon the hot filling into the pepper halves. I really stuff it in there. And it's ok if some spills over te sides. That's just bonus stuffing.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes for cheese to melt.   

Enjoy