Sometimes the plant warns you. Regular zucchini production starts slowing down, odd for early summer. The reason? All of the plant’s attention is going to feeding that one humongous, baseball bat of a zuke. Fortunately, those ginormous zucchini are perfect for stuffing!
How To Make Stuffed Zucchini
Making stuffed zucchini is easy. You just cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, and scoop out the insides, leaving a shell to stuff with whatever your heart desires. This week my heart desired Italian sausage, so my friends, this is what we are using to stuff this particular zucchini. We brown some Italian sausage, onions, garlic, and some of the zucchini insides, and mix it with fresh breadcrumbs, basil, tomatoes, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. One egg is all you need to bind the stuffing together. Into the oven go these stuffed zucchini boats to bake for 40 minutes. Yum!
Make-Ahead Stuffed Zucchini
Need to make ahead? You can easily stuff the zucchini a day ahead of time. Just stuff the zucchini, keep it chilled, then bake right before serving. This is a meal in and of itself—no need to serve it with anything else. By the way, zucchini tends to become watery and mushy when frozen, so we don’t recommend freezing this recipe. Stir frequently and break up the sausage into smaller pieces while it cooks. Remove to a large bowl and set aside. Chop up about a cup of the remaining zucchini flesh. (Whatever remains beyond a cup use for another purpose, discard, or compost.) Add the chopped zucchini and cook a minute or two more, remove from the skillet and add it to the bowl of sausage. Bake at 375°F for 40 minutes. Let sit to cool briefly before serving.
