Lasagna Zucchini Boats
with Italian sausage / kale
For a paleo-friendly twist on lasagna, these zucchini boats offer all the flavor and some extra nutrition too.
Smarts: This recipe is just for the zucchini boats, but if you want a side dish, these would be great with roasted garlic broccoli or a simple green salad.
Ingredients
- Kale - 1 bunch, stems removed leaves finely chopped
- Bell peppers, red or green - 1, diced
- Mushrooms, any button - 8 oz, chopped
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Italian sausage, mild or hot - 12 oz
- Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
- Tomato paste - 2 Tbsp
- Crushed tomatoes (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can
- Water - 1/2 cup
- Zucchini, medium - 4 (~½ lb / 227 g per zucchini)
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Kale / Bell peppers - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Mushrooms - Chop mushrooms, if not pre-chopped. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make sauce - (If prepping right before cooking, get oven heating and start roasting zucchini halves while sauce simmers.) Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage and saute, breaking it apart, until browned in spots and nearly cooked through, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in kale, bell peppers, and mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes more. Stir in Italian seasoning and tomato paste. Pour crushed tomatoes and water over sausage and reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 6 to 8 minutes to let the flavors develop and the sauce thicken. Taste and season with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- 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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Make
- Heat oven to 400F / 204C.
- Brush a sheet pan with some cooking oil. Place zucchini halves on pan, cut-side facing up. Sprinkle zucchini with some salt and pepper.
- Transfer pan to heated oven and bake until zucchini halves are starting to turn tender and golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove zucchini from oven and fill with sauce. (Note: If you line the zucchini up so they are touching it will make it easier to spoon the filling in.)
- Return zucchini to oven. Bake for 10 minutes to let the flavors come together.
- When zucchini is done roasting, sprinkle with some red pepper flakes if you’d like. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
37 reviews
I love a good zucchini boat. I added cheese to half (I am not 100% Paleo all the time). Husband and I enjoyed it.
0 HelpfulVery tasty - but needed much longer to cook then stated. Used spinach instead of kale and left out the mushrooms (because I loathe mushrooms). Used a really yummy sausage. Family loved it.
0 HelpfulThis was a delicious lasagna! I'm not a fan of mushrooms so I omitted them and just doubled the sausage. It was really good with garlic bread on the side!
0 Helpfuldoubled the seasoning. It cooked over in the oven. Would use a bigger pan next time. Flavors were outstanding.
0 HelpfulWe added garlic and extra spices to the sauce due to the comments, but we would also add slightly more tomatoes to increase the volume of the sauce.
0 Helpful