International Stuffed Zucchini Recipes

EASY STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cook and stir the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until the meat is browned, breaking the beef up into crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes. Drain off excess fat, and transfer the beef into a mixing bowl. Slice the zucchini in half the long way, and use a spoon to scoop out the flesh, leaving a 1/2-inch thick shell all around the zucchini. Chop the scooped-out zucchini flesh, and add to mixing bowl. Stir in the bread crumbs, garlic, spaghetti sauce, black olives, and Parmesan cheese; mix the stuffing well. Lightly stuff both halves of the zucchini with the meat mixture. Place the zucchini halves into a baking dish, and cover tightly with foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, remove from oven, and remove the foil. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese over each zucchini half. Move an oven rack to within 6 inches of the oven broiler's heat source, turn on the broiler, and broil the zucchini until the mozzarella cheese is browned and bubbling, about 5 minutes.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine first 11 ingredients and 1 can of the tomato sauce; mix well. Stir in tomatoes. Halve zucchini lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Fill with meat mixture; place in two 13x9-in. baking dishes. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over each. , Bake, uncovered, at 375° until the zucchini is tender, about 45 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese during the last few minutes of baking.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Trim stems from zucchini and slice lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and put in a bowl. Mix seeds with sausage, garlic, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese. Stuff squash with sausage mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour spaghetti sauce over the top and cover the pan with foil.
• Bake in preheated oven until sausage is browned and cooked through, about 45 minutes. Remove foil and cover with mozzarella cheese. Return to the oven and cook until cheese is melted, about 15 minutes more.

INTERNATIONAL STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise; cut a thin slice from the bottoms so they sit flat. Scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4-in. shells. Place zucchini shells in a small microwave- and oven-safe dish. Cover and microwave on high for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain and set aside. , In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium heat, cook beef and garlic until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the Havarti cheese, 1/2 cup feta cheese, basil, salt and pepper. , Fill zucchini with meat mixture. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Top with remaining feta; bake 5 minutes longer or until zucchini is tender and cheese is melted.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Prepare the zucchini blossoms for stuffing by gently opening the leaves and pinching out the stamen inside each flower. Set the blossoms aside.
• For the filling, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a sandwich-size resealable plastic bag and snip a small corner from one point at the bottom.
• Open the leaves of a blossom and pipe in about 1 tablespoon of filling (don't overfill). Gently twist the top of the blossom to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining zucchini blossoms and filling.
• Pour about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat to 360 degrees F. (If you don't have an oil thermometer, you'll know the oil is ready if you drop in a scrap of bread and it sizzles on contact and begins to brown after a few seconds.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• For the batter, whisk the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the seltzer to make a smooth batter.
• When the oil is ready, dip the zucchini flowers in the batter one at a time, letting excess batter drip back into the bowl. Add as many as will fit in the skillet without crowding. Fry, turning once, until the batter is light, crisp and golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon to the lined baking sheet to drain and repeat with the remaining blossoms.
• Serve warm with marinara for dipping.