Cooking with Homegrown Peppers

Hot or Sweet Pepper Recipes: Pickled, Stuffed & in Salads

Jul 13, 2008 Deborah Harding

Sweet peppers are good raw or cooked and who doesn’t know the experience of stuffed peppers. Peppers can be the main ingredient in a salad or accompany sausage and onions in a sandwich. Cook them up with chicken or beef. Sweet peppers give a pleasant flavor to most dishes and hot peppers lend their heat to recipes. Use your own homegrown and harvested peppers in the following recipes or you can just get them from the supermarket.

Stuffed Green Peppers

• 6 large green peppers (use any color you would like)
• 2 cups boiling water, salted
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 cup coarse bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 can tomato soup (10 – ¾ ounce)
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 ounces)
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the top off each pepper and clean out seeds leaving peppers in tact.
3. Turn pepper upside down and cut a thin slice of the bottom to make it flat. This will enable it to sit up on end.
4. Place peppers in boiling, salted water and let boil 5 minutes. Remove from water immediately and drain.
5. In a bowl combine ground beef, garlic, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and onion. Stuff this mixture into the peppers.
6. Stand each pepper upright in a baking dish that is at least 5 inches high on the sides. A soufflé dish works very well.
7. In a small bowl combine tomato soup, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the peppers.
8. Cover dish with foil and place in oven. Bake for 45 minutes.
9. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more.
10. You can add shredded mozzarella cheese to the top if you would like during the last 15 minutes.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

• 6 whole hot Italian sausages
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

1. Boil sausages about 10 minutes, drain and set aside.
2. Chop the pepper and onion and sauté in a large skillet with a little olive oil. Cook until tender crisp. Set aside.
3. Slice sausages into ½” pieces and fry in skillet with olive oil until lightly browned along the edges.
4. Stir in vegetables and cook about 10 minutes.
5. You can leave the sausages whole and place on a bun covering sausage with hot onions and peppers.

Pickled Banana Peppers

• Banana Peppers
• Garlic
• Dill
• 1 cup pickling salt
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 gallon water

1. Wash peppers and cut in half. Remove seeds and membranes. Cut into strips. (you can add a few Jalapeno peppers to spice it up).
2. Pack peppers in sterilized quart jars.
3. For each jar add 1 clove of garlic and a bunch of dill. In a pot bring salt, apple cider vinegar, and water to boil.
4. Pour over peppers and place seals on jars.
5. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes and set out to cool. Make sure jars seal.

Pickled Hot Peppers

Wear gloves when preparing

• Hot Peppers
• Kosher Salt
• Cold water
• Sugar
• Turmeric
• Pickling spice

1. Soak peppers overnight in cold water with Kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon per 1 cup water)
2. Drain peppers and pack in clean sterilized quart jars.
3. For every cup of water you use add 2 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon turmeric and Tablespoons pickling spice. Bring to a boil and pour over the peppers.
4. Place lids on jars and Pressure cook up to 5 pounds pressure.

Pepper Salad

• 2 large green peppers
• 1 large yellow pepper
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 pint fresh mushrooms
• ½ bottle vinaigrette salad dressing
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Black Pepper to taste
• ½ tablespoon cilantro
• Fresh tomato

1. Cut peppers into long strips.
2. Cut onions into 1 inch lengths including green tops.
3. Add mushrooms, dressing, and seasonings and marinate at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving.
4. Add tomato wedges just before serving.
5. Add grilled chicken or steak for a dinner salad.

Homegrown peppers taste so good in these recipes. They are full of Vitamins and minerals and taste as good as they are good for you.