Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

Serves: 3 – 4

Zucchini bread, grilled zucchini, colache, sautéed squash…there are endless ways to cook up the little green veggies. Inspired by some stuffed mushrooms I ordered recently, I decided to try my hand at stuffing zucchini. We mixed cheeses, garlic and sausage for the stuffing and baked them in a dish of homemade marinara. The result was creamy, spicy, tangy and deelish! The leftovers were great for brunch the next day and my only regret was not making more.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium zucchini
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup ricotta
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
• 3 Tbsp chopped parsley plus a bit for garnish
• ½ lb turkey or pork sausage
• 1 cup marinara sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Prep It:

• Slice the zucchini in half. Using a small spoon, scoop out the middle of each zucchini.
• Mince the garlic and add to a medium bowl.
• Chop the parsley coarsely. Add to the bowl with the garlic reserving 1 tsp for garnish.
• Scramble the egg lightly and add to the garlic and parsley along with the ricotta and Parmesan. Mix lightly to combine and set aside.

Cook It:

• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Meanwhile, brown the sausage in a heated skillet over medium high heat. Use a spoon or spatula to break up the sausage while it cooks. Once it’s browned, remove the sausage and allow it to cool for minutes. When cool, mix the sausage into the cheese and garlic mixture until the ingredients are fully combined.
• Next, pour the marinara sauce into a 9 X11 baking dish.
• Stuff each zucchini half with 2 – 3 heaping Tbsp of the sausage and cheese mixture. Place in the baking dish and top each zucchini half with a bit more cheese.
• Bake for 30 minutes; then broil for an additional 3 – 4 minutes to brown the cheese.

Serve It:

• I served this up with some spaghetti tossed in marinara but you could also try the following:
  • Orzo tossed in pesto
  • Orecchiette tossed in simple tomato sauce
  • Fettuccini in browned butter and garlic
• Change it up! Don’t like zucchini or can’t find it? Try using Japanese eggplant instead. You could also use yellow squash, portabella mushrooms, beef steak tomatoes or even a large braised sweet onion.  You get the point though….right? This stuffing works with just about anything.

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