Color Me Domestic - Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed Zucchini - Italian Style

Zucchini is a vegetable I am particularly fond of. When I was a wee girl we grew it in our backyard garden. And now that I am an adult with zero space to grow anything (and I've proven to be lethal to the herb plants I've tried) I enjoy purchasing fresh vegetables and finding delicious ways to eat them!

I originally found this stuffed zucchini recipe in a magazine and have made it my own over the last few years. The great thing is that the recipe can be modified based on your tastes and based on what you have in your refrigerator. It can be Italian (like the recipe I'm using today), Greek, Latin or American simply by changing up the stuffing.

Italian Style Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients

 - Zucchini (1 whole zucchini per person)

 - Italian Sausage (either 1/2 link per person or about 1/4 lb if buying bulk)

 - Goat Cheese

 - Pine Nuts

 - Dried Oregano

Process

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a glass baking dish with nonstick spray.

In a non-stick frying pan brown the sausage meat. If you have links simply smush the sausage out of the casing or slice the casing and break up the meat in the pan. 

While the meat browns cut off the ends of each zucchini and slice in half long-ways. Using a spoon "gut" the zucchini by scooping out the center flesh of the vegetable. I typically wear gloves or use a plastic bag to handle the zucchini, something about the water from that vegetable leaves a funky film on your fingers.

Spoon out dollops of goat cheese, or if you're using the crumbled style just shake a bunch over the zucchini boats. When the sausage is finished browning transfer it to a paper towel to absorb some of the oil and then spoon pieces into the zucchini boats on top of the cheese. Toast the pine nuts for a few minutes just to brown them slightly and then sprinkle on top. Finish with a pass of oregano and then put them in the oven.

Bake the dish for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy but just be careful... the zucchini is very hot when it comes out of the oven.