Stuffed Zucchini

Another use-what's-in-the-fridge night including another delicious giant zuke from Ferrari Farms (thanks, Cheri and Dorian!).  The marinara on top was an afterthought when the top of the filling looked dry as it was baking; next time I will probably either mix it in, or omit it but cover the tops with foil while baking.  Soooo good!

Make sure you drain the meat mixture and squeeze the spinach really dry.  Mushrooms and zucchinis put out a lot of liquid when cooked, and if your filling is too moist the whole thing will be soupy.

Stuffed Zucchini


Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 large zucchinis
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound lean ground sirloin
• 1 (8 oz. bag) trumpet mushrooms
• 1 large handful frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1/2-ish cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 egg
• a few tablespoons prepared marinara sauce (optional)

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.
• Cut the zukes in half and remove the pulp, keeping a 1/2-inch border all around.  Chop and reserve the pulp.  Place the zuke halves cut side up on the sprayed baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with TSSS.  Set aside.
• In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Add the ground sirloin, some TSSS to taste, and brown.  Drain.
• Add the reserved zucchini pulp, mushrooms and spinach and continue to saute until the mushrooms are soft.  Drain.  Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
• Add the feta and egg and combine.
• Divide the mixture into fourths and fill each zucchini half.  Cover with foil (so they don't dry out) and bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  Remove the foil (and top each zuke with a little marinara sauce - optional) and continue baking for another 5 - 10 minutes until the zukes are tender (but not mushy).

Zucchini Lasagna

What do you do with a gigantic zucchini that you receive from friends (thanks, Ferraris!)?  You make a lasagna, of course.

I've seen this a number of times on Pinterest, and it sounded good, so I thought I'd give it a try.  It's more of an idea than a recipe.  You just take thin slices of zucchini (or eggplant) and layer them, in place of noodles, with typical lasagna ingredients like sauce, cheese, ground beef/sausage, etc.  It was absolutely delicious, and I didn't miss the noodles at all.

One note: zucchinis release a lot of liquid when cooked, so try to keep your sauce on the thicker/drier side, otherwise it will come out a little soupy.  Still tasty, though, but you might need a spoon instead of a fork.

Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

• zucchinis, cut thinly into 1/8" slices
• typical lasagna ingredients, minus the noodles

Directions:

• Layer ingredients into a baking dish like you would a typical lasagna, using the sliced zucchini in place of noodles.  Bake as usual. (I did mine at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, and the zucchini was perfectly "al dente".)

Baked Zucchini

I was craving something au gratin tonight.  I had some nice zucchini from the store, but then I had second-thoughts.  Even the lighter versions of au gratin have high-ish calorie counts, and I didn't want to go there tonight.  So I decided on a simple, easy zucchini bake.  Yum yum!

I used 1/2 cup parmesan and 1/2 cup mozzarella tonight, and it was a bit much.  I've decreased the cheese amount in the recipe below, but how much you use would ultimately depend on your tastes and the size of your zucchini.

Baked Zucchini


Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 4 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/4" discs.
• a large pinch of dried basil
• a large pinch of dried thyme
• a small pinch of dried rosemary
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1/3-ish cup shredded parmesan
• 1/3-ish cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spray a medium baking dish with olive oil.  Set aside.
• In a small skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, then add sliced onion and cook over medium heat until soft.  Pour into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl, reserving a couple of tablespoons each of the cheeses.  Toss everything until well incorporated.  Pour the zucchini mixture into the prepared baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and return the dish back to the oven for another 5 - 10 minutes until the cheese melts.

Baked Zucchini Fries

I saw this on Our Best Bites the other day and thought it sounded scrumptious, so I figured I'd give it a try tonight.  I modified the recipe from that site with my Baked Onion Rings recipe to come up with the one below, and it is indeed scrumptious.

You can make thick or thin zuke fries.  I oped for thin, and they are nice and crispy outside, and soft and flavorful inside.

Basically you take a zuke and cut the ends off.  Then cut it in half so you have two shorter pieces.  Take each half and cut in half length-wise so you have 2 flat pieces, then again so you have 4 flat pieces.  Take each flat piece and cut into quarters to make sticks.  They turn out to be the same size as traditional french fries.

Baked Zucchini Fries
Adapted from this recipe and this recipe.

Ingredients:

• PAM
• 3 medium zucchini, washed, dried, sliced into sticks
• whole wheat flour
• EggBeaters
• 1 part whole wheat Panko bread crumbs to 1 part grated parmesan
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with PAM.
• Set up three shallow bowls in an assembly line: first with the flour (about a cup), then with the EggBeaters (about 2 cups), then with the 1:1 Panko to parmesan mixture (about 2 cups total).
• Season the flour and Panko:parmesan with TSSS.
• One by one, dredge the zucchini sticks in flour, then dip into the EggBeaters, then roll in the Panko:parmesan mixture.  Lay them on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes until crunchy.  (Our Best Bites says to flip them after 10 minutes, but I didn't and they turned out perfectly fine.)
• Serve immediately.  (They lose their crunch once they cool down and sit on the counter for a while.)

I served mine with some warmed jarred marinara sauce.  YUM!

Meatball-Stuffed Zucchini

This is more of an assembly idea than an actual recipe.  I found these beautiful, large zucchini at my local Sprouts yesterday, perfect for stuffing.  But I was also in the mood for a meatball sandwich.  Thus the open-faced turkey meatball zucchini sandwich.  Too long for a title?  Okay, Meatball-Stuffed Zucchini it is, then.

Meatball-Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

• 4 large zucchini
• PAM
• a batch of turkey meatballs
• whole wheat spaghetti, cooked to al dente per box instructions
• shredded mozzarella

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Wash the zucchini and cut in half, lengthwise.  Scoop out a little of the seed innards.  You don't have to scoop out a lot, since the seeds are tender and very edible.  Just enough to make a little indentation bed for the meatballs.
• Spray a baking dish with PAM.  Place the zucchini cut-side down in the sprayed dish, in a single layer.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until zucchini are tender with just a slight bit of firmness.
• On an oven-proof serving plate, make a bed of cooked spaghetti.  Place zucchini on top and fill with meatballs and sauce.  Top with shredded mozzarella. 
• Place into oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
• Serve immediately.