Stuffed Zucchini

Zucchini is on! How are you using up your EXCESS? I love zucchini brownies (hmmm, upcoming post?) and ZUCCHINI bread, and I especially love this STUFFED zucchini that I discovered while watching the Food Network. Giada DeLaurentis came up with this TASTY dish and, with just a few little tweaks, I'm sharing my VERSION with you below! (P.S. I apologize for the very "red" photo. I should have used different plates!)

Stuffed Zucchini

Olive oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon dry parsley leaves

1 large egg

3 tablespoons ketchup

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1 pound ground turkey (or ground beef would be fine)

2 large zucchini, ends removed, halved lengthwise and crosswise (so 8 total pieces)

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 jar marinara sauce (I prefer a chunky veggie type)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle olive oil over the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch pan; set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the onion, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt, pepper, cheese, and breadcrumbs; stir in the turkey. Use a small spoon or melon baller to hollow out the centers of each piece of zucchini and remove the seeds. Fill zucchini with meat mixture and set in prepared pan. Sprinkle the bell pepper pieces over top and then pour marinara sauce over all. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until meat is thoroughly cooked and zucchini is tender. 

TIP: I don't always use all the meat mixture, so I cook it up and freeze it for another use—like adding to my spaghetti sauce. Also, try spooning the extra sauce from the pan over top of each serving of this dish to make it extra juicy!

Zucchini