Italian Stuffed Zucchini Recipes

ITALIAN SAUSAGE-STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each zucchini lengthwise in half. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell; chop pulp. Place zucchini shells in a large microwave-safe dish. In batches, microwave, covered, on high 2-3 minutes or until crisp-tender., In a large skillet, cook sausage and zucchini pulp over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink, breaking sausage into crumbles; drain. Stir in tomatoes, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, herbs and pepper. Spoon into zucchini shells., Place in 2 ungreased 13x9-in. baking dishes. Bake, covered, 15-20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5-8 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. If desired, sprinkle with additional minced parsley.

ITALIAN STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Measure one cup of marinara sauce and set aside.
• Trim the ends from the zucchini and slice them in half lengthwise. Using a teaspoon, scrape the inside of the zucchini forming a cavity, being careful not to cut through.
• Place the zucchini boats in a 9 x 13" baking dish and add a cup of water. Cover with foil then bake for 20 minutes or until just slightly fork tender. Remove from oven, remove foil and set aside to cool slightly.
• While the zucchini is cooking, add the olive oil to a skillet and place over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, onions, peppers, and garlic to the pan, and stir until fully combined. Cook, stirring to break up the ground turkey as it cooks. Cook until the meat is cooked and the vegetables have softened. If there is too much grease, drain off as much as possible. and return skillet to the heat.
• Add the remaining 2 cups marinara sauce, parsley and spices and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the spices if necessary.
• Remove the zucchini from the baking dish and drain off the water. Pour the 1 cup marinara on the bottom of the dish and place the zucchini on top of the sauce.
• Fill the zucchini cavities with the meat sauce. If you have extra, add it around the zucchini or save it to enjoy with pasta another day. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. or until zucchini is fork tender.
• Remove dish from oven and set the oven to broil. Remove the foil then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese, then the parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and then the breadcrumbs evenly over the six zucchini boats.
• Place dish in the oven and broil for approximately 2 minutes, with the door open, until the cheese has melted and golden in colour.
• *I used my Basil Tomato Sauce Recipe #447975.

ITALIAN STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Slice each zucchini in half lengthwise. Hollow out the zucchini. Place the scraped out zucchini into a medium bowl. Combine zucchini, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, burger-style crumbles and pasta sauce. Mix well.
• Place mixture into hollowed out zucchini. Arrange zucchini in a baking dish, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese; bake for 40 minutes.

ZUCCHINI NOODLE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven and prepare a dish: Preheat the oven to 350°F and oil a 9 x 13-inch or 8 x 12-inch casserole dish.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Cut off the top of the zucchini and scoop out the center leaving at least a good 1/2 inch border all around.
• Chop the zucchini that you just removed finely.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a frying pan, cook the chopped onions, the garlic, and half the zucchini in the olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat, and add salt & pepper, cheese, tomatoes and the chopped parsley.
• Stuff the zucchini, and place in a baking dish.
• Cook for 45 minutes or until fork tender and the filling is golden brown.
• Serve either warm or at room temperature.

ITALIAN STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Measure out 1 cup of the marinara sauce and set aside.
• Trim ends from zucchini and slice in half, lengthwise. Use the tip of a spoon to scrape out the zucchini flesh (see recipe note), chop it and set it aside. Place the scooped out zucchini boats into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish and add about 1-inch of water. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until just slightly fork-tender. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, add olive oil to a 12-inch skillet and place over MEDIUM heat. Add turkey (or beef), onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring to break up the ground meat as it cooks. Continue to cook and stir until meat is thoroughly cooked and veggies have softened. Drain off as much grease as possible and return the skillet to the heat.
• Add the chopped zucchini flesh, mushrooms, remaining marinara in jar (reserve 1 cup for later), parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, fresh ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and allow to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.
• Remove partially cooked zucchini from baking dish and pour off water. Pour the 1 cup of reserved marinara sauce into the empty baking dish and place zucchini boats on top of the sauce.
• Divide the filling between the zucchini boats. If you have extra filling, spoon it into the dish around the zucchini boats. Cover the dish with foil, and bake for 20 minutes, or until zucchini is fork tender. Remove dish from oven and set oven to BROIL.
• Remove foil and sprinkle zucchini boats with mozzarella, Parmesan and the panko bread crumbs. Place dish in oven, watching closely, and cook for just a couple of minutes until cheese has melted and bread crumbs are golden brown.

ITALIAN MEATLOAF IN ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Scoop out and discard zucchini seeds, leaving the hollowed-out shells. Sprinkle the garlic salt into the hollowed-out zucchini, and set aside. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• In a mixing bowl, mix the ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, basil, carrot, and Parmesan cheese together with the onion mixture. Stuff the zucchini halves with the meat mixture, and place them into a baking dish. Spoon about half the spaghetti sauce over the zucchini, covering all the meat and allowing sauce to drip down the sides of the zucchini boats.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the meat is no longer pink in the center and the zucchini are tender, about 45 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the zucchini, and return to oven until the cheese melts, about 5 more minutes. Heat the remaining spaghetti sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat while the zucchini boats are cooking. Serve the zucchini boats with the additional sauce on the side.

ITALIAN STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• 1. SAUCE: Heat olive oil in a very large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they are soft and translucent (not browned). Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
• 2. Carefully add tomatoes and salt (they will splatter!). If using canned whole tomatoes, crush them with your hands as they go in. Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
• 3. MEATBALLS: Wet slices of bread and quickly squeeze out the moisture. Shred the bread into a large bowl. Add eggs, Parmesan (use low fat if desired), Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and chopped parsley and mix.
• 4. Add meat (use the bison for a lower fat content - no one will know!) and gently combine everything.
• 5. COMPOSE: Slice the large zucchini into 2-inch drums. Using an apple corer, core out the center of the flesh containing seeds of each drum.
• 6. Gently stuff the meat mixture into each zucchini drum.
• 7. Place them in the simmering sauce. Make meatballs with leftover meat mixture and place them in the simmering sauce. Cover and cook for approximately 25-30 minutes, turning the zucchini and meatballs one time, or until the meat is cooked through.
• 8. Serve over spaghetti noodles with additional Parmesan cheese.

ITALIAN STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a small baking dish with foil. Scoop out the seeds from the zucchini, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell.
• Combine the ricotta, 1/4 cup Italian cheese blend, the parsley, capicola and lemon zest and juice in a medium bowl. Season the zucchini with salt and pepper, then fill with the ricotta mixture.
• Drizzle each zucchini half with about 1 tablespoon marinara sauce, then sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup Italian cheese blend. Transfer to the baking dish and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 20 minutes.