Stuffed Zucchini Boats

When I think of stuffed squash (or really stuffed anything), I think of my mom.  She always made different stuffed creations for dinner.  As I was preparing these stuffed zucchini boats, Scot came into the kitchen and said something like, "wow, this is a unique kind of meal."  It is just funny because this is like spaghetti and meatballs to me.  That is an exaggeration.  Maybe it is like chicken noodle soup to me.  

These are some pretty healthy stuffed zucchini boats.  And they were really good.  We had them with some buttered white rice.  

Also, I had quite a bit of extra stuffing.  So, I just starting stuffing anything I could find.  I ended up filling two tomatoes and some onions.  Tomatoes...good.  Onions...good bowl for stuffing.  

Finally, I have decided to start a rating system.  For every recipe, I am going to provide my taste rating, Scot's taste rating, effort rating and dishwashing rating.  I will post these rating scales in the "about food" page above.  One thing to remember is that these ratings are different the "Difficulty" rating that is on each recipe.  That is actually referring to the technical difficulty.  I realize that my recipes are almost always rated "Easy".  But that is because they don't require any type of experience or skills to make.  Ya know.  

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Taste Rating

1-inedible (obviously would never post such a thing)

2-

3-forgettable (obviously would never post such a thing)

4-

5-a solid meal

6-

7-yum!  will definitely make/eat this again

8-

9-near perfection

10-can't imagine anything better

Effort Rating

1-so easy!

2-

3-some down time, could multitask other duties as I cooked

4-

5-Mad crazy woman in the kitchen during this meal

Dishwashing Effort Rating

1-Shanon cleaned up mostly everything before we ate dinner

2-

3-decent amount of cleanup

4-

5-Scot had quite disaster to deal with, had to whip out the drying towels

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Stuffed Zucchini Boats

from Annie’s Eats

1 zucchini, about 12 inches long (or 2 6-inch)

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1/2 cup onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

1 lb. turkey sausage or ground turkey

2 tbsp. dry white wine

2-3 tomatoes, seeded and diced

3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil

1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving a shell about 1/4-inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the onion and garlic until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides to the skillet and sauté another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Crumble in the sausage or ground turkey and cook until lightly browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in the cooked onion and mushroom mixture. Add the wine to the pan along with the tomatoes, basil and rosemary. Cook for 1 more minute. Drain of any excess fat, remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 375° F. Once the turkey mixture has cooled a bit, mix in the Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper. Fill the zucchini shells with the mixture. Fill a baking dish with 1/4-inch of water. Place the filled zucchini shells in the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the zucchini from the pan and serve immediately.

(Servings: 4, Prep time: 40 hr., Cook time: 40 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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foodforscot Ratings

Shanon (taste):  6/10

Scot (taste):  6/10

Effort:  3/5

Dishwashing Effort:  2/5