Baked Stuffed Zucchini
Zucchini is stuffed with ground turkey and/or chicken sausage and beans, flavored with basil, garlic, and onion, and topped with mozzarella cheese for a delicious feast filled with vegetables, fiber and protein.
Ingredients
- 3 small zucchini
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes more to taste
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 pound ground turkey, beef, italian sausage or a combination of these meats I like a combo of ground turkey and chicken sausage
- 4-6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup navy beans about half of a 15 oz can (rinsed and drained)
- 1 cup diced tomatoes fresh or canned
- 1 handful basil chopped
- salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
- 12 small mozzarella balls or half of a large one, chopped can also use shredded mozzerella
- handful shredded parmesean, romano or asiago cheese
Instructions
- Slice the zucchini the long way and scoop out the seeds. If you have larger zucchini a have a lot of zucchini flesh, you can scoop that out and dice it up, Add it into the stuffing mixture while cooking.
- Place the zucchini boats upside down in your sprayed/oiled baking dish and precook for a few (3-5) minutes in the microwave or in the oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the zucchini. Since we are filling this with a cooked stuffing, you want to start to cook the zucchini before you stuff them to ensure they are not tough.
- While the zucchini is cooking, saute your onions and ground meat in olive oil in a large pan. Season with crushed red pepper, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. If you have any extra diced zucchini, add it now.
- When the meat is most of the way cooked, add the minced garlic. Add more oil if needed. Cook for just a couple of minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
- Toss in the tomatoes and beans. Cook for another few minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat and toss in the basil.
- At this point the stuffing is cooked, so taste it! Add more seasonings to adjust to your liking.
- Take the zucchini out of the oven or microwave. Turn the temperature of the oven up to 425°.
- Fill the partially cooked zucchini boats with the stuffing. It's OK if it spills over the top and sides.
- Top with mozzarella and parmesan/romano/asiago cheese
- Drizzle the entire dish with more olive oil
- Bake at 425° for another 10-15 minutes until all the cheese is melted.
Notes
This recipe makes 6 zucchini boats. Depending on what you serve as side dishes and how hungry you are, it can feed anywhere from 3-6 people. We love to serve this with lentil pasta or focaccia. It's also wonderful atop cauliflower rice, veggie noodles, or served with a simple side salad.