Stuffed Red Peppers

I spent this past Saturday evening with some girlfriends while our husbands were out of town on a bachelor weekend. We decided to get together to eat & have some wine, with the intent that dinner be Italian style.

I brought two dishes - Stuffed Red Peppers and Panna Cotta with a Blackberry Zinfandel Compote. I'll share the Panna Cotta recipe tomorrow, but following is the Stuffed Red Peppers - these were a hit!

Picture from CookingLight.com

Ingredients

• 3 large red bell pepper, halved lengthwise
• 2 small yellow squash - peeled and chopped with end discarded
  
• Cooking spray
• 3 ounces Italian bread
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped peeled plum tomato
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Discard seeds and membranes from bell pepper.

Finely chop pulp from squash; set aside.

Place bell pepper halves cut sides up, in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Coat shells with cooking spray.

Place bread in a food processor (I used my blender since I don't have a food processor); pulse 10 times or until crumbs measure 1 1/2 cups.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chopped pulp and garlic; cook 4 minutes or until moisture evaporates, stirring frequently. Add tomato; cook 2 minutes or until tomato begins to soften, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and transfer into medium mixing bowl.

Stir in the breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup cheese, parsley, black pepper, and salt.

Divide mixture evenly among prepared bell pepper halves; sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup cheese. Cover pan with foil, and bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until shells are tender.

Preheat broiler.

Remove foil; broil 4 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned.

Hope you'll enjoy! This was perfectly healthy & very filling.