Sausage and Mozzarella Stuffed Jalapenos

Here's another great stuffed jalapeno idea, my son requested stuffed mushrooms so I was asking a friend how she makes hers and somehow the conversation turned to "you know, I'll bet this stuffing is great in a jalapeno too"... And you know what, it is! The key is to chop the sausage up pretty fine and you may want to study your pepper a bit before you cut it in half to find how it will balance best on the baking sheet.

Earl was the one that thought these would be good dipped in a little spaghetti sauce...

Gotta tell ya, the little porker is smarter than he looks:@)

Sausage and Mozzarella Stuffed Jalapenos
Jalapenos, approx 3", cut in half lengthwise and cleaned
One part Italian sausage, cooked, drained and chopped fine
One part mozzarella, shredded
Half part seasoned breadcrumbs
Spaghetti sauce for dipping

1. Place jalapenos on baking sheet/dish in 375 degree oven and bake for about 4 minutes.
2. Mix the sausage, mozzarella and breadcrumbs.
3. Remove peppers from oven and stuff with mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese melts.
5. It's always nice to finish them with a little sprinkle of kosher salt once out of the oven.

Notes:

• I didn't have seasoned breadcrumbs so I added a little garlic and onion powder, some Italian seasoning and a little pinch of S&P.
• As a point of reference, for a quick snack I heated up the counter top oven, cut 2 jalapenos in half and used 2 Tblsp sausage and cheese, 1 Tblsp crumbs.
• All sausage is different, if the mix seems just a tad dry to you add a few drops of milk, just a few though.

Sharing a tip about what a cleaned jalapeno should look like. If you don't want things to be too hot
you have to remove the seeds and membrane. A melon baller works great!

After doing this I find baking mellows the jalapenos very nicely.
Also, food safe gloves are a good idea if you're making a lot of them,
they can be found at Walmart and most Supermarkets.

Have a happy day:@)

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