Low-Carb Stuffed Peppers with Italian Sausage, Ground Beef, and Mozzarella

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. In very large frying pan, heat a small amount of olive oil and cook ground beef until lightly browned. Remove the ground beef to a bowl when it's done. In same frying pan, add a tiny amount of olive oil, squeeze  sausage out of links, and cook until lightly brown. Add the browned sausage to the bowl with the ground beef. Cut tops off peppers, making a deep enough cut that you have some pepper to chop for the filling. Square off the bottom of each pepper to make them stand up. Clean out inside of peppers and wash if needed. Choose a pan that will keep the peppers standing upright and spray with olive oil or nonstick spray. While the meats browns, chop the pepper tops and bottoms and the onions. Add a bit more oil to pan and cook chopped peppers and onions for about 3-4 minutes, until barely starting to soften. Turn off heat and put meat back into pan with peppers and onions. Add about 1 cup Marinara sauce, or purchased tomato sauce with  basil, just enough to barely moisten the mixture. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Let mixture cool slightly, then mix in cheeses, saving about 1/4 cup Mozzarella for the top of the peppers. Put the peppers in the pan standing upright. Stuff each pepper with meat/veggie/cheese mixture, using a large spoon and pressing in tightly until you use all the filling. Put a pinch of Mozzarella cheese on the top of each pepper. Cover the dish loosely with foil, tenting it up so it doesn’t touch the tops of the peppers. Bake, covered with foil about 30 minutes. Take off foil and bake about 20 minutes more, until cheese is melted completely and top is slightly browned. Serve hot.