MINI STUFFED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Rinse peppers in cold water. Using a small paring knife, carefully remove stems and seeds preserving as much of the top of the peppers as possible.
• Sauté garlic, onion and celery in a large pan with olive oil until soft. Add chicken broth to pan and increase heat too high. Turn burner off Just prior to boiling,.
• Add stuffing mix, Tuscany seasoning, parsley and shredded Italian cheeses. Mix all ingredients until well combined, softened and moist. You can adjust softness by adding more stuffing mix or chicken broth. You are now ready to stuff.
• Using surgical gloves, stuff the peppers with a teaspoon or by hand. Once all the peppers are stuffed, pierce them with a paring knife in several places. This will allow steam to escape, helping to prevent stuffing from oozing out.
• DO NOT oven bake the stuffed peppers. Cooked peppers need to soften but retain their texture. Oven baking will over cook them, destroying their flavor and texture.
• Place them in a large frying pan with an ample amount of olive oil. Over medium heat, sauté peppers on all sides, only turning them over as their surfaces begin to singe. Peppers should be softened but retain texture.
• Made too much stuffing? That's a good problem. Form the stuffing mix into a burger. Brown one side in the pan used to fry the peppers. Flip the stuffing burger and top the cooked side with more cheese. Covering pan as you brown the other side will help the cheese melt.