Zucchini is one of those mega healthy foods we all should eat more of, but often can't think of many recipes to use it in. Sure, it's easy to slice up and grill or add to a stir fry, but if overcooked can become slightly soggy and unappetizing. Today's recipe, Stuffed Zucchini Boats, combines your favorite Italian-style sausage stuffing with that somewhat bland zucchini to create a simple and delicious, low carb, KETO-friendly dinner. You can make a large batch for meal prep or simply make enough for the night, but these stuffed zucchinis reheat well and will satiate the biggest of appetites so if you are looking for new ways to use up that late summer/early fall healthy gourd this is the recipe for you. It's easy to adapt to different tastes and/or flavors and simple enough that anyone can perfect it....Let's Get Cooking!
Surprisingly, prep work for these Stuffed Zucchini Boats is fairly minimal. Slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the middle seeds and flesh, creating a "boat-like" hollowed out log. Arrange them in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil and season with a bit of salt, pepper, and some Italian seasoning.
Next, heat a frying pan up with some olive oil over Medium-High heat. Once hot, add the pork sausage and sauté it for 10 to 12 minutes, until no longer pink. Be sure to season the sausage with some salt, pepper, and the remaining Italian seasoning. As you can see in the image below, you will likely have quite a bit of excess grease to drain or soak up using a paper towel.
Continuing on, dice a small onion or 1/2 a large onion into a smaller, bite-sized dice and add it to the sausage. Let these two ingredients cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the onion starts to turn translucent. At that point, add the minced garlic and finish sautéing everything for one additional minute, until fragrant. As always, be sure to taste this filling mixture to see if it needs any additional salt or pepper, but it should be fine as it is.
Once you begin to smell the garlic, pour in the marinara sauce and let it all simmer for about 5 minutes to fortify all those flavors together. If you are maintaining a super strict low carb/KETO diet, be sure to use an appropriate marinara or tomato sauce with minimal sugars. RAO brand sauces are delicious and work well with low carb/KETO diets, but if you have your own recipe or other favorite brand they will work just fine, as well. The mixture should be a fairly thick, Bolognese-type sauce to stuff the zucchini halves, so you may want to start with half and adjust the sauce amount if yours is on the thinner side.
Before moving on, go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While that is coming up to temperature, use a large spoon and carefully fill the zucchini boats as full as possible. Depending on the size of baking pan you use, you may have to split your batch in half or use multiple trays.
Next, sprinkle the grated parmesan over each zucchini boat. Follow that layer of cheese with a hearty, thick layer or shredded mozzarella!
Bake the Stuffed Zucchini Boats for 25 minutes, uncovered, until the zucchini is softened and the cheese begins to brown.
Believe it or not, that wraps up this simple yet delicious Stuffed Zucchini Boat recipe! A serving size should be 1 full zucchini, or 2 halves, but depending on the size it could be more or less. The zucchini itself is surprisingly filling so by the time you add that extra sausage and sauce filling, you are sure to get full and satiated without any regrets of junk food or poor diet! That pork sausage is high in calories, though, so don't eat the whole tray at once, lol. Otherwise, this base recipe leaves ample room for changes and ingredient swaps for the more picky eaters out there. I still suggest making a generic meat and sauce base filling, but you can certainly use ground beef or turkey instead of sausage or change up the cheeses. Either way, this weeknight meal is great for meal prep as well as these zucchini boats reheat well so use your imagination, get creative, and give this recipe a try...Just Keep Cooking!
STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS
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