Mini Italian Meatball Mac and Cheese Stuffed Peppers
Try this Mini Italian Meatball Mac and Cheese Stuffed Peppers recipe.
Try this Mini Italian Meatball Mac and Cheese Stuffed Peppers recipe.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 2 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 pound spicy italian chicken sausage
- 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pound of your favorite short cut pasta
- 2 3/4 cup milk (i use 2%)
- 1 1/4 cups provolone gouda or havarti cheese shredded (i used a mix)
- 1 cup fontina cheese shredded
- 2-3 cups of [your favorite marinara sauce | http://www.half
- 6-8 bell peppers
- 1 1/2 cups crushed ritz crackers (about 1 sleeve)
- Carbohydrate 11.0838772273966 g
- Cholesterol 119.105868070817 mg
- Fat 39.7141617527661 g
- Fiber 0.424015116548927 g
- Protein 21.2722804487489 g
- Saturated Fat 24.6608325784587 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -8 STUFFED PEPPERS (260g)
- Sodium 698.954935938286 mg
- Sugar 10.6598621108476 g
- Trans Fat 2.3397633027555 g
- Calories 483 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- While the water boils, combine the ground sausage, egg, olive, oil, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined, then roll the meat into small bite size balls, about 1 teaspoon of meat. Place on a baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or until crisp and cooked throughout. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Meanwhile make the mac and cheese. Boil the pasta until al-dente. Drain.
- In the same pot you boiled the pasta in, melt the 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let cook/bubble for 1 minute, stirring once or twice to avoid burning. Gradually whisk in the milk and raise the heat up to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking frequently until the sauce has thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in all of the cheese, mustard powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese is fully melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the mini meat balls.
- Spread the marinara over the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Place the peppers in the baking dish. Stuff each pepper with mac and cheese.
- In a bowl combine the Ritz Crackers and 3 tablespoons butter. Sprinkle the mixture over the peppers. Drizzle the peppers with a little olive oil.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 20-30 minutes or until the peppers are soft and the tops of the mac and cheese are golden. Serve with fresh basil and the marinara sauce in the bottom of the dish. Enjoy!
Rolling the sausage mixture into portions no larger than a single teaspoon ensures the meatballs cook through in the initial 15-to-20-minute window at 400 degrees Fahrenheit without scorching the exterior. Building the cheese sauce requires cooking the flour and butter roux for exactly one minute over medium-low heat to eliminate the raw starch taste while preventing discoloration. Combining sharp cheddar, provolone, gouda, and fontina creates a high-fat dairy matrix that melts smoothly when whisked off the heat, anchoring the starches without breaking. Stuffed bell peppers release considerable moisture during the initial 20-minute covered bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, which steams the pepper walls until tender before the foil is removed to crisp the cracker topping. Repurposing these elements the following day requires careful reheating; individual stuffed peppers can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days, though the crushed cracker crust will soften upon refrigeration and benefits from a brief flash under a broiler at 400 degrees Fahrenheit to regain its crunch. Acid from the marinara sauce cuts through the dense dairy fats, balancing the sodium content across the dish while the peppers provide a crisp structural vessel for the soft pasta filling.
