Stuffed Zucchini

Well, it’s that time of year again. The time of year when you have more zucchini than you literally know what to do with and when every time your husband brings more in from the garden you groan in anguish (well, maybe that’s just me) with the thoughts of “what in the world am I going to do with them all?”

Plenty of them have already been given away to people at my husband’s work. Plenty have been grated and sauteed into all manner of delicious breads and side dishes…and yet, they’re still coming!! Seriously, why do we plant so many zucchini plants every year when one would be more than enough? Will we ever learn??? It’s doubtful! LOL!

Since I’ve never shared my recipe for Stuffed Zucchini before, now is the time.  I used ground turkey in this recipe to hold the calorie count down a little, but with the addition of the fennel seed you’ll never really miss the fact that these are not stuffed with good old, higher calorie Italian sausage. Trust me when I tell you, that these are really, REALLY gooood!

STUFFED ZUCCHINI     {PRINT THIS RECIPE}
Serves 6-8    Prep time: 15 minutes     Cook time: 40 minutes

*2 large zucchini – halved and notched out for filling (see photo)
4 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt – divided
1/2 teaspoon pepper – divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound ground turkey
1 small red onion, peeled and small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (10 ounces) tomato puree
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Prepare a 9×13 casserole dish by spraying with nonstick spray.
-Halve the zucchini and notch out the center. You can also cut a thin strip from the opposite side of the notch in order to have the zucchini sit securely in the pan without falling over.
*Note – You can use whatever size zucchini you like. During the cooler months when the zucchini are smaller, use several (halved) to fill your 9×13 casserole dish. Since I made mine in the height of harvest time, our zucchini were pretty huge and I only used 2 large zucchini (halved) and filled the 9×13 casserole dish and so my recipe is listed at such.

-Brush the cut side of each zucchini with the olive oil.
-Sprinkle each zucchini with half of the salt, half of the pepper and the garlic powder. Set aside.
-In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey, red onion, minced garlic, fennel seed and egg until incorporated.
-Generously fill each notched zucchini with the ground turkey mixture.
-Bake the filled zucchini for 20 minutes.
-Remove the zucchini from the oven and top each zucchini evenly with the tomato puree, the shredded mozzarella, shredded Parmesan and the dried basil and oregano.
-Return the casserole back to the oven and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is browned and bubbly.

Yum! Yum! Somebody grab the wine because it’s time to eat!!!

Kudos Kitchen By Renee ~ Where food and art collide on a regular basis.
Please contact me if I can paint something for YOU!

Until we eat again,