Stuffing peppers, so to speak

You're just going to love this one. In the mood for some Italian/Mediterranean cooking one night. Went looking for a recipe for Stuffed bell peppers. As you may have guessed, I didn't find one to my liking. One started with the phrase "In the microwave". So being a bit of a cook I threw this together. I hope you like it.
 I used 3 bell peppers totaling 6 servings for this dish and did have some extra stuffing when all finished. Most measures are guestimates, as I don't really measure out, more on the waves of dash n pinch of... 

3 bell peppers, mix up the colors

7 oz Ricotta cheese

1/2 lb Italian sausage (I use ground sausage)

1 white onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 egg

1/2 cup orzo prepared (al dente) I always did want to use that word in a sentence

1 cup chopped fresh spinach

1 tsp basil (more or less to taste)

1/2 tsp thyme (more less to taste

1/2 tsp salt

1tbs oregano

black pepper to taste

2 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)

2 tbsp marinara sauce for color

stuffing:

In a skillet on med heat cook onion with garlic till onion is translucent add sausage stir occasionally till sausage is browned. Be preparing the orzo as the sausage browns. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, spinach, basil, thyme, salt, oregano 1/2 of the mozzarella, orzo, black pepper. Add to this the onion, garlic and sausage, stir till well blended. I did add marinara sauce to the stuffing for color. 

remove stems cut peppers in half top to bottom, remove seeds and ribs. Set the pepper halves cut side up on a baking pan (cookie sheet) fill the peppers. Preheat oven to 325* bake peppers for 20 minutes covered. Add the rest of the mozzarella topping each pepper half. Cook an additional 10 mins. 

ps this has been a sort of experimental recipe, for "softer" peppers, cook a little longer, or increase the heat to 350*

Goes well with what is known in my family as a Cindy salad. Romaine lettuce, apple or pear slices, pecans or pine nuts. I did add  green olives and spinach,  dashed with Balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Now is your chance to try Merlot (no silent letters) wine.  I think this would have been the perfect time to use endive, instead of lettuce. Have seen endive in the produce but never thought to buy any. We'll save that for another post.