Don’t have venison chorizo? Call me. Kidding. You can substitute any kind of fresh, bulk sausage — I’d recommend something spicy.
Hat tip to my mom who provided the original version of this recipe along with her homegrown banana peppers.
This meal is delicious and easy. Cleaning the peppers is the only real challenge, but it just requires some care and patience.
We loved this as a football “snack” on Sunday, but for a summer or fall meal, I would pair this with some steamed rice and a fresh tomato-cucumber salad with some nice acidity to it to add brightness to the dish.
Venison Chorizo Stuffed Banana Peppers
- 8-12 banana peppers
- 1 lb hot sausage or venison chorizo (bulk)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated (I used pecorino romano as I always do)
- 1 cup Ritz crackers, finely crushed
- 1 T garlic, minced
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 T butter, melted
- fresh parsley
- Mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used Daiya Cutting Board Shreds)
- Olive or canola oil
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Clean peppers by carefully slicing a “T” into side pepper near the top, taking care not to cut off the cap. Slice down the length of the pepper, but not to the very end. Remove all seeds.
Crush Ritz crackers (I used a plastic sandwich baggie), add the finely grated cheese, and combine. Set aside.
Brown or sausage with garlic and pepper (I didn’t add garlic and pepper because our venison chorizo has these and other strong flavors).
Remove sausage from heat and use an immersion blender to finely chop the sausage. Or, remove to blender for this odd yet important step.
Add freshly chopped parsley and cracker mixture to sausage and combine well. Add melted butter so that the mixture is moist but not wet.
Using a small spoon, stuff sausage mixture into the peppers. If you need to use your hands, that’s OK.
Pour 1/2 cup of oil into the bottom of a baking dish that will fit all of your peppers – it’s ok for them to touch – and lay peppers on top of oil.
Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and generously top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Serve your Venison Chorizo Stuffed Banana Peppers with a local pilsner like Tröegs Sunshine Pils.
