Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Zucchini is growing like crazy! Need an easy, healthy meal? Zucchini boats are the answer! Use the huge zucchini from the garden or the smaller ones from the store and dinner will be ready in a snap! Great way to eat your veggies and gluten free too….

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound ground meat (turkey, Italian sausage, chicken, beef or lamb)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
4 small or 1 large zucchini
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
3 – 4 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped
2 cups fresh kale or spinach leaves, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup red wine
½ cup bread crumbs (can use gluten free)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Olive oil for drizzling

Garnish:

½ cup sliced green olives
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Sprigs of fresh oregano

Equipment Needed:

Cutting board
Chef knife
Serrated knife
Melon baller or small spoon
Measuring spoons
Dry and liquid measuring cups
Large 10 – 12 inch skillet
Bamboo or rubber spatula
Small bowl
13 x 9 baking sheet or half sheet pan
Bent edged spatula for serving

I love zucchini and Mediterranean flavors together! Zucchini is a rather bland vegetable alone, but add garlic, onions and tomatoes and you have a party going on… on the plate and in your mouth! All the ingredients are super healthy too and choose lower in fat protein will make this a perfect heart-healthy dish. The whole house will smell amazing and the family will come running. Super easy assembly will put this dinner on the table in a little over an hour! Chop your onion and mince your garlic and let’s get cooking…

Preheat oven to 375 F.

First step…you will need to chop or dice your onions depending on your preference. These aromatic vegetables will pretty much disappear in the cooking process, but add amazing flavor. Don’t leave them out! Set your larger skillet over medium high heat to warm for 3 – 4 minutes. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, especially if you’re using ground turkey or chicken. Neither has very much fat and will prevent excessive sticking as you brown the meat. Place the prepared onions and garlic over the meat and stir to blend. Allow these to sauté together in the skillet for about 5 minutes or uniformly cooked and onions appear to be yellow and translucent in color.

I am all about dovetailing my food preparation, which helps reduce the prep time, so while the meat is cooking let’s get the zucchini ready! Using a longer serrated knife, slice the zucchini in half vertically. Try to divide them as evenly as possible. Lay open the zucchini and observe the flesh. If you are using a larger zucchini, you will have more seeds to remove before you actually get down to the flesh of the vegetable. Smaller varieties will have few seeds or the ones visible are softer and edible too. Using a melon baller or a smaller spoon, scrap out seeds first if present. A melon baller is a great tool to have in your kitchen. It can be used for coring apples too and of course making sweet melon balls for salads. Here it’s perfect for removing seeds and then carefully scooping out the flesh, as shown. Chop the zucchini you remove into smaller chunks and set aside to add to the mixture later… throw out the seeds. You will have long boats with about ½ - 1 inch of flesh around the edges.

Keep checking and stirring the meat mixture as you get the zucchini ready. Season the meat with the salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Time to add the greens! I try to use fresh herbs as much as possible. I grow them in my garden, and dry them to use in the winter. If using dry herbs, you will use about 1/3 to 1/2 the amount of fresh, as fresh has more water content and dry more intense flavor. Remove the parsley and oregano leaves from the stems and chop fine. You will wind up with about 2 – 3 tablespoons of each.

Kale is one of the most nutritious greens there is and is rich in phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. Grow a couple kale plants in your flower garden or planters, and you will have tons throughout the summer and fall. It’s pretty hearty and frost resistant too! To prep the kale, remove the stem and core that runs through the middle of each leave first. Then rough chop into roughly 1 inch chunks. No need to measure… they will shrink up fast! If using spinach, your can chop stems and leaves too. Stems will soften and disappear, unlike stems from kale. Add greens and herbs to the skillet and stir well. Continue to sauté this mixture as you go to the next step.

Tomatoes are next! Roma tomatoes will create a rich sauce in the meat. Roma tomatoes have more pulp and let moisture, so they won’t make the stuffing too runny. Using a serrated knife, or a supper sharp chef knife, slice romas vertically into 6 or 8 slices depending on the size of the tomato. Then repeat horizontally to make relatively small chunks, about ½ inch. Don’t worry about seeds or skins, these will disappear and add fiber to the dish. Add tomatoes to meat mixture and sauté for about 5 minutes. A sauce will start to appear. Measure out the tomato paste and combine well. I purchase tomato paste in a tube for recipes like this, as you don’t use the entire can. You can also freeze in ice cube trays in 2 tablespoon measurements and place them in a ziplock baggie. It seems most recipes ironically call for 2 tablespoons. Now add the red wine and reserved zucchini chunks and simmer for 5 minutes.

While the meat sauce is simmering, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese cheese in a small bowl. This dish is gluten-free, except for the bread crumbs, so use gluten-free crumbs and you’re set!

Didn’t I say this would be easy? You’re almost done! Time to stuff the boats… so grab the baking pan and let’s go! Drizzle a little olive oil on the bottom of the casserole dish and lay zucchini inside. Divide the filling between the hollowed-out zucchini boats, as shown above. Sprinkle each stuffed boat liberally with the breadcrumb/ cheese mixture, making sure you use it all. Don’t they look sweet?

Make sure the oven is preheated to 375 F and oven rack is in the center. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the bread crumbs to help ensure browning and place baking pan into the oven for about 30 - 35 minutes or bread crumbs are evenly toasted, golden brown. Your house is smelling amazing… right? Go make a salad while you wait for them to cook!

When zucchini boats are ready, if using large zucchini, cut them in half. Sprinkle boats with crumbled feta cheese and sliced green olives. Kalamata or black olives work well too, just less colorful. Serve ‘em up and enjoy!