Stuffed Peppers with Sausage and Mozzarella is a hearty delicious meal yet requires little effort to prepare. Mix the ingredients in the bowl, stuff the peppers, top with sauce, sprinkle with cheese, bake, and serve. Part of my KISS recipes - Keep It Short Simple.
Combine the ingredients for the No Cook Tomato Sauce together in a bowl.
Break up the bread and place in a bowl. Drizzle the milk over the bread to moisten.
Next, slice the tops off the peppers and cut each pepper in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pull off the white ribs. Don't discard tops. Cut around the stem and discard stem. Place tops on baking dish and they will soften when cooked. You could also chop the tops and sprinkle on top of stuffed peppers for some added texture.
Break up the bread getting rid of any big clumps. I use my hand since I'm going to also use it to combine sausage mixture.
In a large bowl, combine sausage, mozzarella, soaked bread, sauce, and crushed red pepper, if using.
Line a baking sheet with foil and drizzle with some olive oil.
Stuff the peppers loosely with the sausage mixture, dividing the mixture evenly, and set them on the baking dish. If you chopped the pepper tops, sprinkle them on top of peppers.
Drizzle tops of peppers with some olive oil.
Bake for 30 minutes then drizzle with some sauce and top with mozzarella. Bake for 15 more minutes.
Serve with salad and some crusty bread or with your favorite side.
Notes
¼ cup bread crumbs can be used instead of Italian bread Recipe for the peppers can easily be halved or doubled.There's a lot of forgiveness in preparing the stuffing.Use as much or as little sauce for topping.Warmup up any leftover sauce and serve with peppers, if desired. Otherwise, they are perfect as is. After baking, there will be liquid from the peppers on the bottom.