Stuffed Peppers
2 large bell peppers, cleaned and halved crosswise
1/3 (12 ounce) block firm tofu, pressed and mashed with a fork
2 heaping tablespoons vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt, to taste
1 cup sausage crumbles (I used this VegWeb recipe: Sausage Crumbles)
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning or 2 tablespoons fresh herbs
1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (or jarred tomato sauce)
4 slices vegan cheese, american flavor (I use Tofutti)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bell pepper halves in an 8" x 8" baking dish
2. In a separate bowl, combine tofu, cream cheese, garlic powder and salt. This is the ricotta-like layer. Evenly spoon into the four pepper halves, smoothing into the corners. Top each pepper with 1/4 cup sausage crumbles.
3. For sauce, in a pan, heat olive oil. Add and saute mushrooms and onions for 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and Italian seasoning or herbs and cook 30 seconds more. Add canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Spoon evenly over the peppers.
4. Top with the cheese slices. Bake for 60 minutes, checking on the peppers at around 45 minutes. If the cheese has already melted and browned, place some tinfoil lightly over the peppers to prevent it from getting too dark.
Source of recipe: I wrote this recipe.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Some people have had a hard time getting their Toffuti cheese slices to melt. I think the key to that is having lots of extra tomato sauce flowing over the peppers into the baking pan (I like them juicy). It must be the moisture that melts the cheese. I hope this helps!
Great recipe and better tasting! Thanks for sharing. ;)b
The pictures themselves look tasty! Haven't tried it yet since I'm still afraid of the calorie content but hey it's Christmas time so I think i'll give it a whirl soon!
I made these tonight. My cheese dried out way before 45 minutes-I had to take the slices off, gross! Other than that it was really yummy! Thanks for sharing!! ;)
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit. Whenever you can get an Omni to say "there was tofu in that?" in a way that makes it clear that if she had known she would not even have tried, much less liked, the food you know that something good has happened.
I used gimmie lean "sausage" and cooked it in strips, then pulsed it in a blender to make the crumbles. I will definitely be cooking this one again. Top notch!