All summer long, I have been seeing recipes floating around online for stuffed zucchini. The recipes all looked good, but just not what I had envisioned. The star vegetable of the week seemed to be zucchini last week, I decided to try my hand and come up with my own Meatless Monday recipe for an Italian Zucchini Boats.
These Italian zucchini boats are filled with sautéed mushrooms, onions, and honey-roasted tomatoes and cheese. A quick and easy low-carb meal!
How to Make Italian Zucchini Boats
First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan. Add the shallots and garlic; sauté until the oil is fragrant (about 1 minute). Add in mushrooms and sauté until tender.
While the mushrooms are sautéing, cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and place them into a small bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, honey, and season with salt and pepper to taste; toss and coat well. Stir in the sautéed mushrooms.
Next, cut the zucchinis in half, lengthwise and hollow them out, leaving approximately ¼-inch of the zucchini intact. Discard the scooped out portion.
Smear ricotta cheese into the zucchini trench and top with the tomato/mushroom mixture. Top with cheese, and sprinkle with oregano.
I had some extra tomatoes and tossed them onto the sheet pan as well.
Bake the zucchini boats at 400 degrees F until cheese has lightly browned and the zucchini is tender; about 20 to 30 minutes.
To serve sprinkle with fresh basil and red pepper flakes and enjoy!
I thought this was a really good Meatless Monday dish, but what did David think about this dish?
Well, he didn’t like it that much. However, I wouldn’t take my carnivorous husband’s opinion to heart. He said that I needed to sink these zucchini boats with bacon bits…
Italian Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini cut in half and hollowed out lengthwise
- 8-10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil + for drizzling
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces mushrooms chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey for drizzling
- ¼ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- dried oregano, red pepper flakes, fresh basil for serving, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in a sauté pan. Add the shallots and garlic; sauté until the oil is fragrant (about 1 minute). Add in mushrooms and sauté until tender.
- Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and place them into a small bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, honey, and season with salt and pepper to taste; toss and coat well. Stir in the sautéed mushrooms.
- Cut the zucchinis in half, lengthwise and hollow them out, leaving approximately ¼” of the zucchini intact. Discard the scooped out portion.
- Smear ricotta cheese into the zucchini trench and top with the tomato/mushroom mixture. Top with cheese, and sprinkle with oregano.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20–30 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and the zucchini is tender.
- To serve sprinkle with fresh basil and red pepper flakes and enjoy!
mjohnson9706 says
Very nice! I think I’m going to have to make these when I get the next batch of zucchini! He had to say bacon!!! I’m thinking I’ll have to try some “David style” also 🙂 Have a great day!
debbeedoodles says
Yes, bacon makes everything so much better! 🙂