Stuffed Bell Peppers with Italian Sausage, Rice and Pasta Jay’s Classic Marinara

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked jasmine rice cooked per instructions

2 tsp olive oil

½ sweet yellow onion diced

Italian sausage

2 cloves of garlic chopped finely

Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

1 tsp fennel seeds crushed

½ tsp dried oregano

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

½ cup of baby spinach chopped

2 tbsp fresh basil chopped (plus more for garnish)

1 ½ cups of Pasta Jay’s Classic Marinara Sauce

3 bell peppers 1 orange, 1 yellow, 1 red

Parmesan shredded

Directions:

Prepare rice, per instructions.

While rice is cooking, heat a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until tender. Add the Italian sausage. Using a potato masher, mash the sausage while it cooks until crumbled. Add the minced garlic, oregano, fennel, and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook for 3-4 minutes or until sausage is cooked, stirring often. Add prepared rice, spinach, and basil along with 1 cup of marinara sauce and mix thoroughly. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large glass baking dish, add 1-1 1/2 cups of water. Cut the bell peppers in half, lengthwise, then remove the seeds. Scoop meat mixture into each pepper half until it’s heaping full and place into baking dish. Add a spoonful of the remaining marinara sauce to each pepper then top with sprinkled Parmesan cheese.

Bake covered in tin foil for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake additional 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve. Enjoy!