Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

These Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers have the flavors of my favorite pizza, but without the carbs!

Oh hey everyone!  Happy Wednesday!   How is the week treating you?  I’m really excited to share these Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers with you all today.  You may be wondering – why are they called Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers?  Is there actually a pizza stuffed in there? 🍕

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Ok, well no.  There is not an actual pizza stuffed in the bell pepper.  The idea is that I took my favorite pizza flavors (sausage, peppers and onion, if anyone was wondering) and put it in a bell pepper, then topped it with cheese.  Why?  Because it tastes amazing and as much as we would like to have pizza every day, we just can’t.

With my birthday coming up soon  and a fun trip planned, Mr. Briar and I are on a serious weight loss push, and ditching some carbs is the best way for us to watch the number on the scale drop.  We aren’t exactly “low carb” – I still have sugar in my coffee and we eat bread and crackers sometimes.  But the idea is to reduce the carbs and replace them with vegetables and protein.  So I try to make our dinners more like these Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers – not only are they low carb and high protein, but they are super filling and satisfying.

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I found that the filling was the perfect amount to stuff six bell peppers – however that could vary depening on the size of the bell peppers – I chose large, roundish bell peppers and tried to pick ones with the four points on the bottom rather than the ones with the three points  because that helps them sit evenly.  There is a common myth that the peppers with the four points are female and the ones with three are male, but according to snopes that is untrue – because bell peppers are hermaphroditic. Who knew?

Another thing that will depend on your bell peppers is the final cooking time.  Sometimes 45 minutes is enough, but it may take a little longer depending on the size, and thickness of the peppers.  You want them soft and tender, so if they still seem underdone after 45 minutes continute to cook.  You can tent them with foil if the cheese starts to get too brown.

I’m perfectly happy to eat these until my birthday weekend, where I will be eating all sorts of delicious foods in Vancouver.  Be sure to follow along on Instagram to see what I find!  What are you up to this weekend?

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Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers

Prep 20 mins

Cook 45 mins

Total 1 hour, 5 mins

Author Meghan

Yield 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 pound Italian sausage

6 bell peppers (any color, I used red, green and yellow)

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

8 ounces crimini mushrooms, diced

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

6 ounces grated mozzarella cheese

salt

pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the top 1/4 off the bell peppers and remove the seeds and membranes,  place bell peppers in a large baking dish and set aside.  Dice and reserve the extra flesh from the tops, discarding the stem.
3. Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Brown the sausage, then remove sausage from pan.
4. Add the onions, the diced parts of the bell peppers, and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper.  Saute for 10-15 minutes, until they have released their water and water has evaporated from pan.
5. Once water has evaporated and pan is starting to get dry, add the tomato paste and garlic, stir together until mixed and becoming fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the meat back to the pan, stir in oregano and parmesan cheese.  Stir until fully  mixed.
7. Fill bell peppers with sausage mixture and bake for 30 minutes.  
8. After 30 minutes, remove from oven and top peppers with mozzarella cheese, return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until peppers are cooked and cheese is browning and bubbly.

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If you make this recipe don’t forget to tag it @foxandbriar and #foxandbriar on instagram and facebook! I really love to see what you make and you may be featured in our weekly Reader Feature!