Stuffed Peppers Italian Style

My grandmother made this recipe with anchovies, fresh parsley, ripe tomatoes, olive oil, Salt & Pepper. In a large bowl she mixed Chopped parsley, tomatoes, anchovies, olive oil & salt & pepper. Then added the mix to the chopped bread & stuffed the peppers. I still make it every summer when the tomatoes are ripe.

Excellent dish. I shortened the cooking time by browning the stuffed peppers on the stovetop then finishing them with sauce and fresh parm on low heat. Took about 30 minutes instead. Peppers may have been softer than in the oven but delicious.

For peppers we use Italian, Green and Red Bell from the garden. I have been eating these peppers since I was 6 years old. My Grandmother was Italian from Italy. My mother made them and now I make them. Recipe is basically the same only for olives we use oil cured Italian olives. We also add Capers,grated locatelli pecorino romano and sharp Provolone cheese to the mixture. Some of the peppers we add chopped Pepperoni to. We never bake them. We cut the stem off in a small round circle remove all seeds then stuff the pepper whole then use a piece of the loaf of bread tucked into the pepper after stuffing to help hold the stuffing in. We then brown them on all sides and the bottom in olive oil. After browning we add chopped Garlic to the olive oil until browned then Oregano, Red Chianti then add our tomato or pizza sauce and cover with a lid until done spooning the sauce on top about every 10 minutes. Then we remove from the pan put in a baking dish and add provolone and Mozzarella cheese on top and put under the broiler until cheese is browned. Never any leftovers in our house.

I followed a lot of the advice of “JohnMonihan”, the first reviewer for this recipe. (Thanks John!). I added oregano, fresh parmesan (inside and as a garnish) and a little parsely on top (see photo). These flavors added to the taste and presentation of the dish. I also used a bit more olives than called for, and used anchovy paste rather than actual anchovies. The taste of the anchovies is pretty much non-existant so don’t be afraid to use it. It just adds a slightly salty flavor that really enhances the dish. As for the bread, I cubed mine but will run it in my food processor next time. Make a bit more than you think you need as it shrinks while you are cooking it. This wasn’t a life-altering side dish, but it was really good and I would certainly make it again.

Just like my Italian grandma used to make……except….black olives instead of green, went heavier on the olive oil, onion & garlic. Added approx 1/4 c parmesan also. Stuffed whole cubanelles as she did. Took me back to my childhood – thanks for the recipe!

This was a very nice recipe for stuffed peppers. I did however make changes based on preference. I used the sausage, oregano and basil as others recommended. The other big difference in my recipe is that I decided to use cooked white rice instead of the bread. I know the bread would be more Italian, but we love rice in our household! The rest of the recipe stayed the same and it turned out delicious! One hint for making stuffed peppers that I use to shorten the cooking time, is to take the tops off the peppers and then parboil them for 10 minutes or so. This speeds up the baking time and you can boil the peppers while preparing the stuffing. My cooking time in the oven was about 25 min.

This was a ok at best. It took forever to cook and the end result was not as good as I had expected it would be. I mean it tasted good, but not as good as I would have thought it should be.

Great with changes in my notes.

I guess I’m missing something that everyone else loved about these, because I didn’t like them at all. They were way too dry and the flavors did not mesh together well. Even with the onions and garlic, they were pretty bland, except for the overwhelming taste of olive. We love anchovies and you could hardly tell there were any in these peppers. I will not be making this recipe again.

Greast recipe. Thanks for sharing!

This is a good recipe, but no one in our family likes anchovies! I came across this recipe because we all miss my MIL’s stuffed peppers now that she’s gone and this was the closest to it I could find. I added some pepperoni and soppresata (dry sausage), which my mother in law taught me to “boil in a little water to get out some of the fat” and then chop into a super small dice. That way, there’s some in every bite. I made it once without the “boil” and found that the pepperoni was like little hard nuggests – we prefer that it be boiled a little first – its softer in the finished pepper We get the “salt” flavor from this rather than the anchovies. Also, she always added some freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese to the mixture and regular black olives, chopped up, and ALWAYS used the day old Italian bread rather than boxed bread crumbs.

This was pretty good, but there was something missing. Not sure what, though, because the olive/anchovy combination added a really nice flavor. I’ll probably make these again, and see if some recipe modifications will improve it.

I agree… if you add Italian sausage, Parmesan cheese, and spaghetti sauce (homemade or canned) it really adds some flavor! I used rosemary bread that was fresh, and was still satisfied with the outcome. 🙂

My husband and I enjoyed this recipe. I used chopped calamata olives that been marinated in EVOO and spices, in place of the green olives. Next time I think I’ll mix in a few raisins and maybe a little lemon zest. I think the contrast of sweet raisins with salty anchovies and tart lemon would be great. Oh, I also cut the peppers in half length-wise as another reviewer suggested. What a great tip!

I made this recipe for my wife and a couple of our close friends. The recipe is a good one. There are some nice, not too overpowering flavors in this dish. I served it the peppers on a bed of spaghetti squash. Changes I recommend…add italian sausage, add some table white wine (dry is best) when cooking the onions and garlic, add a tablespoon of oregano, and once the peppers are done, cover them with shaved parmesan (from a block of cheese, not that pregrated stuff). Sprinkle chopped parsley as a garnish over the top of the peppers. Oh, and one last thing…slice the peppers lengthwise and make pepper boats. You can fit a lot into the pepper and it’s more stable when sitting on a plate. Bon Appetit!

I really enjoyed this–the bread cooks up as a nice stuffing and the anchovies lend a great kick. My husband hates anchovies, he couldn’t taste them in the first pepper he ate, but he could in his second helping. But hey, he had seconds, so he still thought it was pretty good!

I eliminated the green olives and used sicilian black olives (shriveled ones) and did not use onion. Very tasty.

This was fanastic! I was looking for a stuffed banana pepper recipe and came across this one. I substituted 12 banana peppers for the green peppers and added a can of crushed tomatoes and 1/2 cup of parmesean cheese to the stuffing. Will definitely make again.

This was a big hit in my home. I did add cooked lean ground beef and shredded parmesan cheese to the mixture. I also cut the amount of breadcrumbs in half. Absolutely delicious, I served with a green salad and will definitley make again. Thanks!