Ground Chicken & Chicken Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 6 red bell peppers
• 1 pound ground chicken 
• 1 pound Italian style chicken sausage (5 links)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 heaping cup)
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (use the tops from the 6 cups)
• olive oil
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1 - 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 tbsp. & 1 tsp. chopped garlic, divided
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Preheat oven to 375F.

Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Cut tops off peppers, saving to chop and use for the stuffing.  Square off the bottoms of each pepper so that they can stand up in a baking dish.  Arrange the peppers in the dish.

Chop tops of pepper, which should yield a heaping cup and chop the onion, set aside.

In a small sauce pan, combine the tomato sauce, crush red pepper, oregano, basil and 1 tsp. chopped garlic.  Mix well, cover and turn on low.

In a large saute pan, add a small amount of olive oil and brown the ground chicken and chicken sausage, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper,  breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, 7 minutes.  Use a potato masher to get the meat into a small crumble.  Drain fat in a colander and set aside.

Add a small amount of olive oil to the same pan and saute the chopped bell peppers, onions and 1 tbsp. chopped garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook until starting to soften, 4 minutes.   Turn off heat and add chicken and sausage to the pan, mixing well.  Add the tomato sauce and mix well.  Let cool for 10 minutes and then mix in the Parmesan and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella.

Stuff each pepper with the meat, veggie and cheese mixture, pressing it in tightly.  Sprinkle each stuffed pepper with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella.

Bake, covered with foil, tented and sprayed with cooking spray, 30 minutes.  Uncover and cook 10 minutes more, until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Enjoy!