Hi there all you wonderful readers! I’m going to send hopeful thoughts that when I don’t have two-year-old twins I will give you many more original recipes than I currently can, because it is completely my favorite part of food blogging. Still love sharing recipes that pass my big family test too, but new recipes are so fun.
I have one for you today and it is SO GOOD.
We make a lot of stuffed peppers in our house, and I usually make them with sautéed onion + garlic, ground beef/turkey, Rao’s tomato sauce, rice, diced tomatoes, and plenty of parm + mozzarella. Easy peasy, didn’t even blog about them because I usually make the recipe up as I go and I think there are already a ton on the internet. Such as here and here.
But then I was trying to think of healthy dinners that were also crave-worthy, and I thought the stuffed pepper routine could use some jazzing up. I mean, the possibilities are endless, aren’t they?
My thoughts kept returning to flavorful sausage, and how it infuses soups like my Sausage, Kale and Lentil Stew and rice dishes like Jambalaya (I use Zatarans with chicken, shrimp and andouille or chorizo, which you could also use to stuff these peppers with if you’re in a hurry).
So I let some brown rice mix with some sautéed onions, garlic and chorizo…
Added some chicken broth, diced tomatoes, and black beans and corn…
And then added some smoked gouda because smoked cheese + smoked meat is a match made in heaven.
My twelve year old daughter and I actually tasted tested cheddar, mozzarella, and monkery jack along with the gouda to see which cheese tasted the best. She just put down her little taster ramekin and said, “You have to go with the gouda, it’s is delicious. The other ones don’t even come close.” I kind of think they came a little close, and you could use any of them, but the gouda did take it to the next level.
Also – you will probably have some filling left over. It is delicious on its own or you can find some extra veggies to stuff like zucchini or tomatoes. It’s funny I almost always make zucchini boats when I make stuffed peppers.
These are no ordinary stuffed peppers – the chorizo infused them with so much flavor I barely needed to add any seasonings! It does make it spicy, which my big kids love, but full disclosure the youngest had mac + cheese with hot dogs and corn. Still, it might be worth making the beef/tomato/rice ones for the littles and these spicy ones for the bigs if you have the patience for two pots going. You could also go with kielbasa which is smoky but not spicy and just add hot sauce or tabasco. But there are some amazing flavors in chorizo sausage that made this so yummy, and we all thought the spicy kick was amazing.
We tried to keep it on the healthier side with brown rice and less cheese but FEEL FREE to add more cheese on top and cook for 10 extra minutes with the tin foil off.
I hope you get to try these spicy beauties! They make the BEST leftovers too…
Chorizo + Gouda Stuffed Peppers:
2-3 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 pound chorizo, diced
2 cups rice
4 cups chicken broth (can mix broth + water to get to 4 cups of liquid)
2 cans fire- roasted tomatoes
1 can black beans
10 oz. frozen corn
S&P
8 peppers, combo of red & green
4 oz smoked Gouda, grated
Garnish options: sliced green onions, melted cheese
Heat 2 T. of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions for 4-5 minutes, then add garlic for one more minute, then add chorizo. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil. Add broth, lower to a simmer, then put a lid on a simmer for 35 min. or until rice is tender.
When cooked, stir in tomatoes, beans, corn, and salt and pepper if needed.
Slice peppers in half vertically and remove white parts and seeds. Lay in two 9 x 12 baking dishes. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Add gouda to rice mixture and stir, then scoop rice mixture into peppers and fill so it is heaping a bit. Cover dishes with foil.
Bake at 400 for 35 minutes with tin foil on top. Serve with green onions on top.
If desired you can add more cheese on top like mozzarella, cheddar, or Monterey jack. Cook for 10 more minutes with foil removed to melt cheese.
Serve immediately or reheat leftovers.
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