Meat stuffed garden zucchini

Meat stuffed Garden Zucchini

Hi guys,

Here we are just a few days away from July, and you know what that means in California, where I live?

It’s  Zucchini season  when you have more zucchini then recipes. and your looking for every which way to use them. I fry them , bake them, mash them, leave them raw and stuff them.

These Garden Stuffed Zucchini is one of my favorite ways to eat zucchini, they are a lot easier to make than they look. All the work is in the prep, once the zucchini are assembled you can relax, all that’s left to do is bake the zucchini 30 minutes before serving.

How To Make meat stuffed Garden Zucchini

Start by washing and cutting the zucchini in half. With a tablespoon remove the inside being careful to leave the skin intact. Next give them a good rub of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Now your ready to roast them  for 15 minutes while you make the stuffing. To make the filling heat the olive oil and butter, then add the onion and garlic, cook until tender.

Add the ground beef and reserved zucchini when the onions begin to turn brown. Brown the beef then add the rice, this is the time to salt and pepper, now add the chicken stock and cook covered for 10 minutes or until the rice is bite tender.

At this point you may need more stock, only add small amounts at a time, you don’t want a wet stuffing. After the filling is off the fire add the parmesan cheese and herbs, fill zucchini skins with the stuffing, top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

This is a prefect make ahead meal, it’s freeze friendly and taste even better as a reheat and of course like most of my recipes it’s customizable, you can use ground turkey or chicken or use tofu if you want to go the vegetarian route.

Which ever way you go it will be delicious, let me know if you make this recipe, leave me a comment down below and please don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, I love from from you.

Ingredients

  • 4 zucchini sliced
  • 1/2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 cups prepared marinara sauce
  • 2 tomatoes chopped
  • 1/2 chopped onion
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
  • 2 tablespoons each chopped Italian parsley and basil
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Cut zucchini in half with a spoon remove the insides and set aside
  3. Rub zucchini skins with  olive oil, garlic,  salt and pepper
  4. Roast the zucchini skins for 15 minutes
  5. Mean while in a large saute pan in 2 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil saute the onion and garlic until tender and just beginning to brown
  6. Add the ground beef and reserved zucchini cook until brown
  7.  Add the rice and tomatoes salt and pepper now
  8. Add the chicken stock
  9. Cook covered for 10 minutes
  10. Add the parmesan cheese and herbs
  11. Fill zucchini with the stuffing
  12. Pour the marinara sauce over them
  13. Top with the mozzarella
  14. Bake covered  for 30 minutes