Lon and I fell in love with Stuffed Zucchini when his Aunt Heather made some for us last summer. (Click here for pics.) Not knowing the recipe, Lon had to make his own when he had to have it one night. It’s so hard to get Lon to write down his recipes but he did leave me some chicken scratch to start from, which of course I could not read half of. Doing my best to interpret ingredients that looked like “2 T parade” (what?), I made yet another reincarnation of the recipe so that I could write out a recipe to share. I’ve made this at least three times now because it’s a perfect vegetarian side dish or party appetizer.
This recipe is easier to follow if you use the same size zucchini I used. Look for ones that are roughly 1 3/4″ to 2″ in diameter. You’ll need 10 segments that are 3″ long each, so you’ll get 2 segments out of one that’s roughly 6″ or three segments out of one that is roughly 9″. I hope that makes sense…It’s a pain because zucchini vary in size so much.
Stuffed Zucchini Boats
~20 (3″) boats
- 10 (3″) segments zucchini (roughly 1 3/4″ to 2″ diameter)
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon hot paprika
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions –
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick spray.
2. Cut all zucchini segments in half lengthwise.
3. Cut a thin strip off the curved side of each so that it has a flat surface to stand on. This prevents wobbling. Reserve the strip you cut off.
4. Use a spoon to scoop out the middle of the zucchini.
5. For the flesh you just scooped out, cut off the parts that are seeded. No need to be precise, but you want the solid flesh on the left side of this picture, not the seeded stuff on the right side.
6. Dice the solid zucchini flesh and the strip you cut off earlier into little cubes (no need to be precise). Toss it in a bowl with bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, paprika, and olive oil. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few pinches of pepper.
7. Arrange zucchini on the prepared baking sheet with scooped side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill with zucchini bread crumb filling. Pack it down gently.
6. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 20 minutes. Turn your oven to broil and color just until golden, about 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
What a great dish! I usually just use zuchini as a stir-fry or roast in the oven. I think I’m going to think outside the box and use this underrated vegetable as a salad instead of cucumber.
Yum. Totally makes sense to flatten the bottom of the boat to prevent rolling. Why’d we never think of that?
You should make little carrot oars to go along with it…
excellent tutorial. i love all kinds of sailors in my zucchini boats, from ground beef to corn salsa. your simple and straightforward filling sounds terrific too.
I’m a bit of a spice wimp (medium salsa is my max) and these were HOT
Blond Duck, you always crack me up!
in regards to Kasi’s comment, to clarify, other people did not notice spice at all, so it’s really variable depending on tolerance and I need to point out that freshly ground pepper and fresh garlic is hot for Kasi.
This is such a fun zucchini preparation! Thanks for a great idea! I will be making this for lunch today – yum!
Delicious. That’s all I have to say about that.
haha Jess you’re right! Stephen noticed it but loved it. I just thought I should put it out there for the other spice wimps! Plus, you get credit for being the first person to make me bummed that i couldn’t eat a zucchini dish 🙂
I added oregano and sheep feta and used panko instead of bread crumbs. delicious, thanks.
wow , looks delicious and I will try to make , thanks for sharing