A few weeks ago, I bought a MAMMOTH sized zucchini from Medford Farms Ltd. and was a little stumped on how I wanted to use it for dinner. But then I remembered a recipe I had made with spaghetti squash, and thought I'd try it with the jumbo zucchini!
As you can see, it was definitely large enough to feed a dinner party of four adults!
And so I began choppin'! I first cut the zucchini to half of its length and then width. Then I began to hollow out the zucchini, sprinkling with herbs once completed.
Next, I chopped up all the veggies I wanted to include in my stuffing and put them in a saucepan to cook for roughly 5 minutes. I added my meat protein (optional!) and allowed that to cook for another 5 minutes before adding some tomato pasta sauce and allowing the mixture to simmer for another 5 minutes.
ft. my dog begging for carrots.
I then spooned the mixture into the zucchini boats, and popped them into the oven for around 30 minutes at 400°. Once the timer went off, I grated some parmesan cheese on top and got munchin'! I had baked some potatoes as a side, but this would pair well with a fresh salad, some carbs, or on it's own!
Ingredients:
1 jumbo zucchini
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 lb of protein (I used ground lamb, but could be anything!)
1 onion
Veggies of your choosing (I used the leftover zucchini scraps, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic scapes)
2 cups marinara sauce
Cheese of your choosing (I used parmesan)
Herbs (I used dried Italian seasoning & salt/pepper to taste)
Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 400°F, drizzling a little bit of oil inside your baking tray.
Cut the zucchini into 4 boats, using a spoon to scoop out the inside and place inside the baking tray.
Put as many herbs of your choosing, with salt and pepper on the inside of the boats.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium high heat. Add in your onion + veggies mixture, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the meat (if you are including it!) and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the marinara sauce and simmer for a final 5 minutes.
Spoon the mixture into the zucchini shells (you may have some mixture left that you can continue to cook and eat as leftovers!).
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender.
Sprinkle more herbs and cheese to taste! Then, ENJOY!
