Slow Cooker Stuffed Banana Peppers

I could not resist buying from a farm stand.  It always evokes freshness and deliciousness at its peak.  That was what happened as I passed by one on my way home from Baden, PA where I attended a tea party for the Sisters of St. Joseph tendered by their associate prayer partners.  

I intended to buy only tomatoes but I could not help myself from buying the beautiful banana peppers in their radiant light green color staring at me.  I do not have any recipe in mind except for including them in Sinigang, a Filipino piquant soup dish.  Since I have just made this Filipino dish just a few days ago, I was planning to just freeze these beauties in the freezer till needed.  I decided to leave them in the counter for a while to decorate my kitchen but also because I find them too pretty to go directly to the freezer.  I wanted to wait for something to come up in my head as to what to do with them.   These shiny green elongated vegetables stared at me for four days in my counter until it hit me.  Why don't I try making stuffed banana peppers? 

Of all the Italian appetizers, Stuffed Banana Peppers is my favorite.  I always look for them everytime I go to any church festival where they are usually served.  Esta Esta Restaurant in Monroeville used to serve this during the St. Bernadette Festival in the past and most recently during this Church's 50th birthday. 

I have not prepared them before so I searched for the best recipe I could find online and saw one in the wonderful AllRecipes website.  It was called Bob's Stuffed Banana Peppers.  The reviews sounded amazing and the ingredients for me spelled delicious. 

I looked over the steps given in the direction in this recipe from AllRecipes and for me they look daunting.  They included cooking the peppers first in boiling water before stuffing them, sauteing some ingredients and then baking the stuffed peppers in the oven.  I felt confident that I could skip these steps if I use the slow cooker where the slow cooking will help cook the peppers and sauce efficiently at the same time.  The sauteing of some ingredients can be done if desired but I also felt I can skip that but it is an option for you all who are more motivated. 

I could hardly wait to sample the finished cooked product after I return from an errand.  I actually burned my mouth.  The result was these beautiful and delicious well cooked stuffed banana peppers comparable to the ones from Esta Esta Restaurant that I adore.  Awesome.

These dish is especially good with a salad doused with Ranch Dressing which has milk in it that will help cool down the mouth as one savors the spicy and amazing Stuffed Banana Peppers.  This recipe was made more convenient to prepare, thanks to the slow cooker.  Three cheers for this marvelous kitchen tool.  Enjoy this delicious, spicy dish as an appetizer or even as a meal.  I even had it for breakfast.  Yes it was calling my name.

Slow Cooker Stuffed Banana Peppers

(Adapted from AllRecipes)

Ingredients:

• 14 banana peppers (see Note 1)

For the Sauce

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 -28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 - 8 oz tamato sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• chopped edible part of the cut stem (optional)

For the Filling

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1 lb hot Italian sausage (see note 4)
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup of the sauce prepared above

Preparing the Banana Peppers (See Note 2)

Cut about half an inch (see note 3) of the tops of the banana pepper and remove the seeds and ribs .  You can cut off any edible part of the stem and include them in the sauce if you like.  Wash the peppers with running water.  Set aside.

Preparing the Sauce

Mix all the ingredients of the sauce right in the slow cooker bowl.  Set aside 1/2 cup of the sauce for the filling.

Preparing the Filling

In a large mixing bowl, combine with a fork,  the egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan. Add to this mixture the hot sausage, bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of the sauce and thoroughly mix the ingredients. 

Assembly

Fill each pepper with the filling.  Carefully stack the stuffed peppers on top of the sauce in the bowl of the slow cooker.

Slow Cooking

Cook the stuffed pepper in the sauce in the slow cooker for 4 hours at high setting or 8 hours at low.  I used an Aroma Brand Rice cooker/slow cooker and cooked mine for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.


Notes
1.  The number of peppers may vary with their size or how they are stuffed.

2.  There are many ways to prepare the banana peppers.  One can cut the top stem like I did or one can cut a piece of the pepper on one side to serve as an opening. I decided to cut the top since the peppers will preserve their integrity more easily as they are filed on top of each other in the slow cooker. 

3.  You can cut longer than that so you have the biggest width possible to make the opening wide enough to stuff the pepper easily by hand.

4. The original recipe called for two pounds Italian sausage which was too much according to a reviewer's comments. I am glad I listened to her since even with one pound I was able to fill not only 8 but 14 banana peppers.


Nutrition facts:
I am giving two sets of nutrition facts, one for 14 servings and the other for 8 servings.

 for 14 servings

for 8 servings