Sweet tender Cubanelle peppers meet the bold savory flavor of Italian sausage in this comfort food classic. Italian frying peppers are the perfect pepper for an Italian filling that bubbles with melted cheese and tomato sauce goodness. This recipe for Italian Frying Peppers stuffed with sausage is rustic Italian cooking at it’s best.
What Are Cubanelle Peppers?
Cubanelle peppers are a sweet pepper, similar to a bell pepper, with a slightly sweeter flavor and a longer shape. They are also referred to as Italian sweet frying peppers, and can also be labeled as marconi peppers. They’re called “sweet” because unlike many unripe peppers that are bitter in flavor, the Italian frying pepper is sweet at every stage. They are a medium fleshed pepper, making them ideal for frying.
Cubanelle peppers offer a sweet yet intense “pepper” flavor, something about them screams “It’s Amore”.
Whenever Cubanelle sweet peppers are available at our Farmer’s market I don’t hesitate to grab a handful. Here in Colorado, Cubanelle peppers can be found starting late Summer, from August until our first freeze.
Once I spot them, It’s become a tradition at our house to make this Italian Sausage Stuffed Italian Frying Pepper recipe.
Stuffed with a savory combination of Italian sausage, fresh spinach and Italian cheeses come together for this delightful version. One bite of these delicious Stuffed Italian Frying Peppers and you’ll feel like you’re in Italy.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cubanelle Peppers: can also be labeled as Italian Frying Peppers or Marconi Peppers.
- Italian Sausage: What’s the best sausage for stuffed Cubanelle peppers? Italian of course. Choose sweet or spicy Italian sausage. Your choice.
- Fresh Spinach
- Tomato Sauce
- Chicken Broth
- Binding: We’ll use egg and bread crumbs
- Milk
- Tomato Paste
- Red Onion
- Cheese: Fresh Mozzarella Cheese: I like to buy the packages of small balls of mozzarella labeled as “pearls”. And we’ll use grated Parmesan.
Chef’s Secret: Tomato paste is an MVP in the kitchen. The long cooking time used to make tomato paste gives it a concentrated sweet rich flavor. Just a dollop can add a subtle burst of robust flavor and body into just about any soup or tomato based pasta sauce. Add tomato paste at the beginning of the cooking process to add another layer of flavor. It’s a brilliant little trick.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Sauce: I’m using tomato sauce for this recipe and letting the Italian sausage flavor the sauce. You can also use your favorite jarred Italian Marinara or Spaghetti sauce.
- Cubanelle Peppers Substitute:This recipe will also work well for more commonly available sweet red, yellow or orange bell peppers.
- Broth: if I have white wine on hand, I like to mix half wine and half chicken broth for the sauce. The wine adds an additional layer of flavor. Use a wine you’d drink, rather than cooking wine. Chardonnay or Pinot Gris work well here.
- Gluten Free: Use gluten free bread crumbs.
- Meat: Use ground beef, ground chicken or Italian chicken sausage in place of Italian Sausage.
- Cheese: Try Provolone or cream cheese in place of the mozzarella, or Pecorino Romano for the Parmesan.
Sausage Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers, Step by Step
- Step 1: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the spinach and drizzle with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. Cook the spinach over medium high heat just until wilted, about 1 minute.
- Step 2: In a large bowl combine the chopped bread with the milk, egg and cheese and stir until well combined.
- Step 3: Add the onion, sausage, spinach and tomato paste. Using hands, gently knead the mixture until well combined. Let this stand in the refrigerator 30 minutes.
- Step 4: Using a fork, gently pack the sausage mixture into the peppers, which have simply been rinsed, dried and cut in half lengthwise. Press chunks of fresh mozzarella here and there into the sausage mixture.
- Step 5: In the skillet, heat ¼ cup olive oil until shimmering. Add the stuffed peppers, filling side down, and cook over medium high heat until well-browned, about 4 minutes.
- Step 6: Using a spatula, turn the peppers over and cook until the skins are browned and blistered, about 4 minutes longer.
- Step 7: Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth, cover and simmer until the sausage filling is cooked through and the peppers are tender, 5 to 6 minutes.
- Step 8: Serve frying peppers immediately.
Pro tip: Once the Italian Stuffed Peppers are plated, sprinkle on some red pepper flakes and more grated Parmesan cheese.
How To Serve Them
- Serve stuffed Cubanelle peppers with simple buttered noodles or pasta.
- A side dish of Polenta is a good choice here.
- Or keep it simple with a tossed salad with Red Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing.
- Cubanelle peppers are in season the same time as our beautiful Summer tomatoes. A lightly salted sliced tomato is a nice addition.
- Crusty bread to soak up some of that sauce is also welcome.
Tips For Success
- Hot Oil: Make sure your oil is hot before adding the stuffed peppers for frying. If the oil isn’t shimmering in appearance it can cause the peppers to become watery, and the filling to fall apart. I like to place a very small piece of sausage in the hot oil, if it starts sizzling (without burning), the oil is hot enough to start cooking the peppers.
- Dry Filling: To avoid dry filling, be sure to measure liquid ingredients carefully.
- Italian sausage is fully cooked at 160 degrees. If you’d like, once the peppers are cooked, use an instant read digital meat thermometer to make sure sausage is cooked through.
Make Ahead and Storage
- Make Ahead: The sausage filling for the peppers can be made up to two days in advance. The frying peppers are best fried, served and eaten once cooked. The peppers can become a bit soggy if stored for a length of time.
- Leftovers: Store any leftover stuffed peppers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
- Reheat: The 50% power feature on your microwave is your best friend when heating leftovers. Heat in 15 second increments, until heated through. An air-fryer is also a good choice here to keep the meat nice and crispy, and keep the peppers from becoming soggy. Or even a low heat oven will work well.
- Freezing: You can freeze these peppers once cooked, but I’m not a fan of the textures once thawed. I suggest to eat them as leftovers rather than trying to freeze for meal prep.
FAQ’s
Can’t find Italian peppers? You can most certainly substitute a regular bell peppers, a sweet variety such as Yellow Bell, Red Bell, or Orange Bell and turn them into Italian Stuffed Peppers. Just slice them lengthwise and continue with the recipe. I would avoid a green bell pepper. The strong grassy flavor will distract and the skin is too tough for frying.
Aside from stuffing, the Italian pepper is most well known for the classic Italian sausage and Pepper sandwich. They can also be used simply sliced and added to salads.
Yes. There are so many plant based sausage substitutes available these days. Just substitute for the Italian Sausage. Swap white wine or vegetable stock for the chicken stock. And omit the mozzarella cheese.
You might be wondering why there’s no traditional basil or garlic in this traditional Italian recipe. Both are strong flavors … try it without first for some pure delicious flavor that showcases the sweet Italian peppers.
Cubanelle peppers are thin skinned peppers. Once you start the frying process, the peppers will heat and become soft enough that once they’re turned, I’ve never had a problem with tipping.
Recipe for Sausage Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers (Italian Frying Peppers)
These Italian Frying peppers stuffed with Italian sausage make a mighty fine family dinner. I hope you give the recipe a try. Enjoy!
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Italian Sausage Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers (Sweet Italian Frying Peppers)
Ingredients
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 slices sandwich bread Chopped. Will measure about two cups once chopped.
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese grated
- 2 tablespoons red onion small chop
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 pound Italian sausage hot or sweet, ground
- ½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Freshly ground black peper
- 4 large Italian frying peppers halved lengthwise and cored, stems left intact. or 8 small peppers
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- A few chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese to poke here and there into the stuffed peppers
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the spinach and drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Cook the spinach over medium high heat just until wilted, about 1 minute. Remove the spinach and coarsely chop.
- Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and clean out any large pieces of veins and shake out seeds.
- In a large bowl combine the chopped bread with the milk, egg and cheese and stir until well combined. Add the onion, sausage, spinach and tomato paste. Using hands, gently knead the mixture until well combined. Let this stand in the refrigerator 30 minutes.
- Using a fork, gently pack the sausage mixture into the pepper halves. Press chunks of fresh mozzarella here and there into the sausage mixture.
- In the skillet, heat ¼ cup olive oil until shimmering. Add the stuffed peppers, filling side down, and cook over medium high heat until well-browned, about 4 minutes.
- Using a wide spatula, turn the peppers over and cook until the skins are browned and blistered, about 4 minutes longer. If you loose any filling while turning, just use a fork to replace it.
- Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth, cover and simmer until the sausage filling is cooked through and the peppers are tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve over pasta or polenta.
Notes
Nutrition
Italian Sausage Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers … It’s What’s For Dinner
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Wonderful! Restaurant quality.
Hi Lea Ann,
So, weighing in on the ‘Italian pepper’ discussion – from the Midwest:
Around Chicagoland there is an Italian pepper – “Melrose peppers” – if, you can find them.
Purportedly, these were brought to Melrose Park, IL from Italy.
These are, as you describe, sweet and thin skinned. Used, in a variety of Italian dishes around here.
As I mentioned, usually only found in farmers markets for a short period. As such, I try to grow a few (for fun), and mine are now about ready to be harvested July 15-ish.
Regards – Jim Bowman – Geneva, IL
Thanks so much for weighing in Jim. More “food for thought” 🙂
Same here, the peppers that my favorite vegetable stand offer as Italian Frying Peppers are only available for a couple of week. This time I’m going inquire about the variety and I’ll let you know what they say.
Last week I stuffed poblanos with sausage and rice and they were so good. Love this recipe without the rice for the sweet peppers. I’m growing some Carmen sweet peppers that look very similar to the Italian frying peppers. I’m sure they would be a good substitute. Thanks for sharing!
I love the combo of Italian sausage and peppers. So you know I’m salivating over this recipe. Really good stuff — my sort of dish. Thanks!
These sweet Italian peppers are called Giant Marconi Peppers. I grew them from a plant I bought in the spring from Walmart. Only three giant peppers grew on one plant. They turn red when fully ripe.
Just wanted to say that Cubanelles are not at all the same as Italian frying peppers! Italian frying peppers are a dark green color with patches of black sonetimes. They are slightly smaller than Cubanelles and not as big around. You would come closer to taste using “Goat horns”, which are much longer and sometimes even skinnier. We grew our own Italian frying peppers all my growing up years. Wish l had known to save the seeds. They are almost impossible to find today. Cubanelles are nowhere near the same thing.
Thanks so much for your note Connie. I’ve not found these peppers again since the day I bought them in this post. I’d really like to find them again.
When is the right time to pick them…will they be different colors or just green? I’m sorry just started growing a little garden for the first time..need a little help from you pros!!! 🙂 🙂
I’m not a pro at all. I purchased these from our Farmer’s Market Angie. But I think peppers can be pretty easy. The only ones I’ve ever seen were green.