Stuffed Hot Cherry Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1/3 lb Italian sausage (one link)
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup packed grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp minced scallion
• 3 tbsp minced parsley
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 10 oz fresh hot cherry peppers

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Remove the meat from the sausage casing and crumble the sausage into the pan.
• Brown for about 5 minutes, breaking the meat up with a spatula, until cooked through and crispy. Let cool slightly, then chop into smaller pieces if needed (you don’t want huge chunks of sausage in the filling).
• In a large bowl, mix to combine the sausage (and any drippings from the pan), the cream cheese, breadcrumbs, grated parmesan, scallion, parsley, and garlic.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper (start with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper), then stir in the egg.
• Halve the cherry peppers and remove the seeds and ribs with a melon baller.
• Stuff each cherry pepper with a scoop of the filling.
• Place on a sheet pan and roast for 20 minutes, until the peppers look softened and the filling is golden brown on top.
• Serve & Enjoy!

Tips:

• Leave the stems on, and cut directly through the stem – Cut the cherry pepper through the middle so that each stuffed cherry pepper half has a little “handle” for easy grabbing.
• Wear gloves – Because the cherry peppers are pretty spicy and you’ll be removing the seeds, wear food gloves when handling the peppers.
• Brown the sausage well – Brown the sausage crumbles well for the best flavor.