Sausage, Kale, and White Bean Stuffed Peppers with Farro
When the weather is at its coldest, I find myself making sausage and white bean soup almost every other week. This Italian staple is hearty, packed with nutrients, and comes together quickly with items that are common in our pantries. With a bounty of late summer bell peppers, I was inspired to turn my favorite soup into a filling for stuffed peppers, combining two Italian classics.
Ingredients:
4-6 Local Roots red bell peppers
2 cups cooked farro
2 cups Local Roots kale, chopped
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 pound of Local Roots Italian sausage
15 oz can of white beans or bulk white beans from Local Roots Market + Cafe
1⁄4 cup chopped fresh basil
1⁄2 cup of pecorino romano (or other hard italian cheese)
1 pack of Local Roots mozzarella, cut into thin slices
1⁄2 cup bread crumbs - homemade or panko
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1⁄2 tsp red pepper flakes
Steps:
1. Cut bell peppers in half, remove seeds and pith, season the insides with salt and pepper, and place a baking dish. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven 350 degrees.
3. Remove sausage from casing and crumble into small pieces and sauté until browned. Set aside, leaving about a tablespoon of sausage fat in the pan.
4. Sauté onion in remaining sausage fat until translucent. Add garlic and kale. Sweat the kale down until it’s about 1/4 of its original size, seasoning with salt and pepper.
5. Add the vegetable mixture, cooked farro, cooked sausage, white beans, basil, and pecorino romano to a large mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
TIP: If using bulk white beans, remember to cook them ahead of time- to make them especially flavorful, cook them in a vegetable or chicken broth like our Local Roots chicken broth from Yellow Bell Farm.
6. Fill the pepper halves with 1⁄2 - 1 cup of filling, depending on the size of the pepper. (Any extra filling can be kept in the fridge for about a week or frozen for 2 months.) Arrange slices of mozzarella on top.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, covered, until soft.
8. Combine bread crumbs with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Remove peppers from the oven and sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top.
9. Broil for 5-10 minutes, or until bread crumbs brown.
10. Serve with crusty bread and/or a light salad.
This recipe was created by Local Roots recipe developer Kathleen O'Mara.
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