Oh my goodness … this recipe is almost embarrassing; it’s so easy.
Which makes sense why my mother created it … not only was she a physician, she was also a mother of four children, owned a cattle ranch, a vineyard and helped run a winery. I have no idea where she got her energy or was able to do it all.
The hardest part of this recipe is to find ‘straight’ peppers that will lie flat on the baking pan.
Anaheim chilies are actually a type of the New Mexico chilies. The Anaheims you typically see in grocery stores are the unripe green ones. The green Anaheims are the ones that my mother used for this recipe. The ripe red Anaheims are usually dried and made into a chili powder. Anaheims tend to be on the medium to hot scale of heat for chilies; remember to remove the seeds to keep them more on the medium-ish scale.
You can use any semi-soft cheese for this recipe. I’ve used flavored jack cheeses in the past. My mother was famous for using string cheese slicing them in half and using them for the peppers. I used the Italian blend because I knew it would photograph well. Yes, even with all of this cheese you do have to grease the cookie sheet … the peppers will weep while cooking and will stick to the metal.
My mother traditionally used this recipe as a side dish. One year my chili plants in my garden exploded, and I made this recipe as an appetizer for a football game … massive hit!
Mom's Cheesy Anaheims
Ingredients
- 6 green Anaheim Peppers – sliced lengthwise in half and seeded
- 8-oz. of shredded Italian cheese blend, or just use your favorite
Directions
- Step 1 If you want the peppers not to be spicy remove the seeds.
- Step 2 Place peppers on a greased cookie sheet, interiors facing up.
- Step 3 Fill peppers with cheese.
- Step 4 Place in middle rack of stove and cook for about 20 minutes, or when cheese is golden on top and peppers a nice golden green in color.
