This recipe makes 12 jalapeno halves, but it's easy to triple or quadruple for a party appetizer. Also just as easy to throw on the grill (instead of in the oven) until brown and melty.
Ingredients
4 oz. cream cheese
1/3 cup shredded cheddar or a Mexican cheese blend
6 large jalapeno peppers
1 Tablespoon green onion
1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking dish with tinfoil.
- Crumble sausage in skillet over medium heat and cook until brown. Drain the grease.
- Cut the stem ends off the jalapenos and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and hollow out the insides. Rinse to get rid of all of the seeds and dry on paper towels. Wash your hands and don't touch your eyes. Trust me.
- In a bowl, mix sausage, cream cheese and shredded cheese until evenly blended.
- Spoon a couple of Tablespoons of the cheese-sausage mixture into each jalapeno half, filling until slightly over the top of the pepper.
- Arrange stuffed peppers into baking dish and sprinkle with green onion. Also sprinkle with extra shredded cheese, if you wish. You probably wish.
Cooking & Serving:
Bake 20 minutes at 425 until bubbly and golden-brown. That's it. Easy-peasy.
A Little Backstory:
For Wednesday's chimichurri sauce, I needed one jalapeno. I could buy one pepper for 99 cents, or a dozen for $1.19. Yeah, I know, it didn't make sense to me either. But this is a great, easy recipe to use up those peppers -- and a hearty hot app. Also, jalapenos can be frozen for future recipes. De-seed and slice or mince them for tossing into future soups, enchiladas or sauces.
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