Pizza-Stuffed Zucchini Boats
with sausage / garlic bread
Our community loved this dish in 2016, so we are bringing it back! Inspired by the flavors of pizza, zucchini makes a sturdy shell for a filling of Italian sausage, bell peppers, and mozzarella. If you like a little spice, use spicy sausage or top the baked zucchini with red pepper flakes. This video shows steps for the original version.
Ingredients
- Bell peppers, any color - 1 , diced
- Cheese, fresh mozzarella - 5 oz , thinly sliced
- Garlic - 2 cloves , chopped
- Zucchini, medium - 4 , halved
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp
- Italian sausage, loose and raw - 12 oz (sub any variety loose, raw sausage)
- Tomatoes, crushed (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/2 tsp
- Cheese, parmesan - 1 oz , grated
- Garlic - 2 cloves , chopped
- Parsley - 2 Tbsp , chopped
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Baguette or ciabatta - 8 oz
Nutrition Facts
Prep
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Bell peppers / Cheese (for zucchini and bread) / Garlic (for zucchini and bread) - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
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Zucchini - Slice in half lengthwise and then use a spoon to scoop out the center of each zucchini half, leaving ~1/2” / 1.25 cm thick shell on all sides (discard the center you scoop out or save it for another purpose). Check out this video. (Can be done up to 4 days ahead)
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Parsley - Chop parsley. (Can be done up to 2 days ahead)
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Prep garlic bread - Heat butter in microwave just until soft, 10 to 20 seconds. Combine butter with garlic (portion for bread), cheese (portion for bread), and parsley . Slice bread open lengthwise and spread with garlic butter.
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Make
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Heat oven to 400F / 204C. Set out two sheet pans.
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While oven heats, set garlic bread, cut-side up on the first sheet pan. Set aside.
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Brush the second sheet pan with some cooking oil. Place zucchini halves on pan, cut-side facing up.
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Whisk together olive oil, garlic (portion for zucchini), Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Brush onto cut-side of zucchini halves.
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Transfer pan to heated oven and bake until zucchini halves are starting to turn tender and golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
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While zucchini cooks, heat a saucepan with first part of cooking oil over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers with a pinch of salt and saute until peppers are starting to turn tender, ~2 minutes.
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Add second part of cooking oil and then sausage to heated oil. Saute sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from pan.
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Add tomatoes to sausage and simmer until sauce thickens, ~2 minutes more. Season with some salt and pepper.
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Remove zucchini halves from oven.
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Fill zucchini with sauce and top with mozzarella cheese.
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Transfer both sheet pans (zucchini and garlic bread) to oven. Bake until cheese is melted and garlic bread is lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
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Remove from oven and serve immediately. Top zucchini with red pepper flakes if you’d like. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
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