Louisa’s Stuffed Peppers a la Norvegia

I’m very excited to be participating in this month’s SideCar event at Kitchen PLAY called “29 Ways to Leap into Jarlsberg Dip.”  This event is hosted by Jarlsberg USA and features 29 food bloggers from across the United States who will create recipes to introduce the new Jarlsberg Dip with Red Onion to our foodie community.  For my recipe, I decided to make a gluten-free spin on my grandmother’s classic stuffed pepper dish.

Louisa’s Stuffed Peppers a la Norvegia is a quick and easy-to-prep recipe that smells heavenly while its sizzling and popping away in the oven.  My dad, a.k.a. my toughest food critic and talented family chef who taught me everything I know, gave a big thumbs up to these peppers stuffed with rice, fire roasted tomatoes, savory sweet Italian sausage and, you guessed it, the creamy and sweet Jarlsberg Dip with Red Onion.

What You Need:
4 green bell peppers
8oz Jarlsberg Dip with Red Onion
1-1/2 cup instant rice
10 oz diced fire roasted tomatoes, drained
3 sweet Italian-style turkey sausages
Fresh ground black pepper

What You Do:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Wash and cut around the pepper stem.  Pull stem out and discard along with the seeds.
• Quick roast peppers on a stove burner heated to high.  Insert tongs inside the pepper and roll it on the burner.  Be careful, you only want to add a little color to the skin!  Set peppers aside when you’re done.
• In a large bowl, mix together Jarlsberg Dip with Red Onion, fire roasted tomatoes and instant rice.  Set aside.
• Brown sweet Italian-style turkey sausages in small frying pan for 5 minutes on medium high.  Cut into ½” pieces and add to rice mixture.  (It you do not want to include the sausage casing, split sausage with a knife before cooking, let cool then peel.)
• Arrange peppers to fit snuggly in a baking pan or casserole dish.  Stuff with rice mixture and top with freshly ground black pepper.  (It’s important to not add extra salt or oils because the cheese and sausage plus roasted tomato will naturally do this for you.)
• Cover pan with foil and place on middle rack.  Cook for 50 minutes, or until peppers are tender.  Want brown tops?  Remove the foil five minutes before cooking time is up.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

This recipe serves 4 to 6 people.  It can also be served hot, warm or at room temperature.  The filling is really versatile so you could add it to tomatoes or mushrooms.  Cabbage or eggplant is okay too!

Want to win a snazzy Jarlsberg Prize Pack?  Head on over to their Facebook page and enter to win a tailgate tote stocked with Jarlsberg Lite Cheese, new Jarlsberg Cheese Dip, Norwegian-style cream cheese Snofrisk, crispbreads (not gluten-free), honey crèmes and honey vinegar.

Please note:  This post has been created specifically for an event and I have been compensated for groceries, my time and recipe development.