Neapolitan Stuffed Peppers (Nonna Flora's Recipe)

~My Nonna Flora with my Dad  in the front, he can probably smell the peppers cooking!

This is my family's recipe, the same peppers my Father's Mother, my Nonna Flora Casolaro, used to make for him when he was growing up in Naples, Italy. These stuffed peppers are quintessentially Italian: simple but  good and you find yourself asking, how can such simple ingredients taste so good? Well..... it is just that in fact.......sticking to simple but good ingredients--at their peak-- and then allowing the ingredients to sing for themselves. I would say these peppers are singing a scene from the Neapolitan Opera Buffa La Serva Padrona!

Ingredients
4 Yellow or Red Sweet Bell Peppers
1 egg beaten
4 thin slices of Prosciutto chopped into bits
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs for filling & a little more to sprinkle on top
4 whole basil leaves
olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.

Clean peppers, cut off tops, and scoop out seeds and ribs using a spoon leaving the peppers whole. Set tops aside.
Mix all the above ingredients (except the basil) adding enough oil to moisten. You want a light filling not mushy and compact.
Line the peppers up on a lightly olive oiled pan and drizzle some oil in each pepper.
Stuff each pepper without compacting tightly, add a whole basil leaf to each one pressing down inside the filling, sprinkle a few more crumbs on top and drizzle on more olive oil. Replace the lids.
Bake for 40-45 minutes.