Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

While I haven't posted in a while that doesn't mean that I haven't been busy trying out MANY new recipes. I have been jotting them down in multiple blog drafts and on a little notepad I keep in my kitchen. My camera is full of food shots ready for the posting.

 

So why not post?

 

Well, life has been... busy! My oldest is now in kindergarten, my youngest is in year 1 of 3 for "preschool". We've started sports... that's right, I'm a *gulp* "Soccer Mom". I have even voluntarily added some time to my work commute. Most significantly, though, is my husbands ability to convince me that just one more critter eating my front yard would be not only beneficial financially, but a great learning and life experience for our kiddos. 

 

Now, five  (more) laying chickens, a rooster, six turkeys, and two pigs later... we're becoming pretty darn self-sufficient. And, as of Christmas Eve, we are down to just the five chickens; with a full freezer of course. This, and the snow days we are currently experiencing, has left me with both a little time for myself and some new VERY homemade recipes to post.

 

So to start things off, I decided to post one that would actually be easy for anyone, you would just need to reduce the recipe (below) down in size, buy store-ground pork and not worry about casing anything. OR, just purchase chorizo, but where the heck is the fun in that?

 

Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

GF, DF/CF, CoF, SF, NF- basically, very "paleo" but not very vegan :)

First, the Chorizo...

 

 Ingredients:

5-lb ground pork      
1-cup cold red wine  (I used a merlot I had on hand)
8-tsp paprika
2 Tbs Chili Powder

We purchased hog casing at a local butcher-
I'm all for fresh home-grown food,
but you were not going to see me
processing intestines... They were
VERY salted, so soak and  rinse well

2 Tbs Chipotle Chili Powder
2-tsp cinnamon
1-tbsp cumin
3-medium onions, finely chopped
2-tsp dried oregano
1-tbsp garlic powder
2-tbsp salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

 

We needed one full "hog casing" for this recipe, but if I had been better at stuffing them it would have taken less. Be sure to rinse the casing very well and drain, and dry a bit... you could also just freeze uncased small freezer bags of the sausage filling.

 

Using a sausage stuffer/press... stuff into hog casing

 

 

When we closed down the bakery- did I mention that we closed down the bakery? I talk more about that after- we had an industrial-type sausage press that we had been using to speed up the

As my husband so eloquently
posted on his Facebook page, here I am,
"stuffing sausage like a boss."
Yeah... you can imagine the comments.

"handmade" pie filling process. Another hubby convincing... we decided to "purchase" it. What we did not anticipate... if you are splitting the various types of sausage into smaller batches, you waste a little of the meat that would be left at the bottom of the press and not forced into casings. After all, it IS intended for very large batches. After making my first attempt at Chorizo, I had about 3-4 cups of the filling remaining. Coincidentally, I also had one red and one green pepper in the refrigerator.

 

And so, creative (er, lazy) me decided that if I took said chorizo filling and packed it into the peppers, I would have a delicious dinner, with no more fuss than I had already gone through.

 

I lined the pan with parchment, stuffed the halved peppers... and baked at 350 for about 25 minutes (until golden on top). They were GREAT! I served it with a homemade broccoli risotto, because my kids think it's veggie Mac 'n cheese pieces :) While the chorizo was a little spicy for them, my youngest did eat a good amount.

 

Let me know your thoughts if you try it out!

 

Naturally,

Raych