Stuffed Banana Peppers

Ingredients

• 4 banana peppers
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 5 fresh tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4-5 fresh basil leaves chopped
• small handful fresh oregano chopped
• 1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
• 1/2 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound hamburger
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

1.      Cut off tops of peppers, and remove ribs and seeds. Chop edible portions of tops; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add peppers, reduce heat, and simmer until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2.   Dice tomatoes into very small chunks and simmer in a medium sized cooking pot with chopped garlic.  Stir often.  As you are stirring, press tomatoes with a wooden spoon to smash the tomatoes and help the sauce liquefy faster.  Season with basil, oregano, ½ of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

3.      Spray a medium skillet with cooking spray. Saute reserved chopped pepper and onion until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Add mixture to tomato sauce and stir.  Cook an additional 5 minutes.

4.      Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine ½ egg, remaining salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan. Mix in cooked hamburger, bread crumbs and ½ cup of the tomato sauce mixture.

4.      Using a piping bag or sausage stuffer, fill each pepper with the meat mixture. Place in a 3 quart casserole dish, and pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over peppers.

5.      Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 1 hour.  Feel free to top with cheese when the peppers are done.

...altered from a recipe I found on All Recipes...