Breakfast Stuffed Peppers

So, this recipe is definitely an experiment.  When you think about breakfast, you don't usually think about stuffed peppers, but it can be done!  I still used rice in this recipe because there are some breakfast recipes that require brown rice, but instead of something sweet, this is something slightly spicy and creamy.  I did end up with extra filling when creating these, but it can be used as a topping for a baked potato or a filling for a croissant or breakfast empanada.

Ingredients:

3 large red bell peppers
1 medium vidalia onion
16 oz. sausage
1/2 C brown rice (prepared; 1 bag of success rice)
6 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crumble and brown the sausage.  While sausage is cooking, prepare the peppers and onions.  Remove the caps from the peppers but discard the stem and seeds.  Cut the peppers in half lengthwise (or leave full if preferred, but cooking time will vary).  Dice the onion and pepper caps.

Remove the sausage from the pan (leaving any drippings) and place on a paper towel to drain any excess grease.  Add the chopped onion and pepper caps to the same pan to saute'.  Cook until softened, about 10 minutes.  Cook the rice according to package instructions.

Once all of the ingredients are cooked, combine in a large bowl with the cream cheese and half of the shredded cheddar cheese.  Mix thoroughly until all of the ingredients are incorporated, then start stuffing!!

Stuff each of the peppers being very generous, as this will make quite a bit of filling.  Top with the remaining cheese, add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of water in the bottom of the baking dish so that the peppers will soften as they cook.  Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes then cover with aluminum foil.  Allow the peppers to bake covered for another 10 - 12 minutes and remove for the final step.............

Gently press the tops of the peppers down flattening and creating a small indentation in the center (a spoon will work well for this), remove aluminum foil.  Break a whole egg onto each of the peppers allowing the yolk to sit in the indentation on the top.  Return to the oven for 5 minutes more, or until the egg has reached your desired doneness.  Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and dig in!!  A little hot sauce couldn't hurt either ;)

Photo courtesy of: peaceloveandlowcarb.com