Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Growing up, I remember my mom making a recipe similar to this every summer when we would have an abundance of zucchini growing in our garden. Recreating this dish brought back a lot of memories and also helped to create similar memories with my own children. This year our zucchini haul wasn't huge, but it was the perfect amount. We had roughly 1 zucchini pop up every week, so we didn't get burned out and start randomly leaving them on the neighbors doorsteps (yep I'm a weirdo like that).
This recipe is both simple and very adaptable. It reminds me of a noodle-less version of spaghetti and meatballs.


3-4 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
1 TBSP olive oil
16 ounces ground Italian sausage (I use mild)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1- 1 1/2 cups jarred spaghetti sauce (My favorite is the Victoria White Linen kind that can be purchased from Costco)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Crumble:
1/2 cup Parmesan, finely grated
1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
2. Take your sliced zucchini, and scoop out the middle where the seeds are so that they resemble boats. Don't take it out all the way to the edges because you don't want your filling to just fall out.
3. Place the zucchini boats in a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.
4. Heat a medium sized pan to medium heat and add the olive oil.
5. Add the onion and allow to cook 2-3 minutes until it softens. Add the minced garlic and continue to cook an additional 30 seconds or until it is aromatic.
6. Add the Italian sausage and cook for roughly 5 minutes, making sure to break it up into small pieces. (I like to use a metal potato masher to do this).
7. When meat is cooked through, add the spaghetti sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Heat through.
8. Spoon meat mixture into the zucchini boats, trying to mound it as much as possible.
9. In a medium sized bowl combine the Parmesan, mozzarella, panko, and parsley. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of your meat mixture filled boats.
10. Place in the oven and bake until golden on top, roughly 20 minutes.

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ Everyone's definition of the size of a zucchini is different, so the measurements in this recipe can and should be adjusted to what fits your sizes. If you have more zucchini then you thought, simply add more of the spaghetti sauce to help fill it in.
~ You may need to cook your boats longer depending on how well cooked you like your zucchini. I prefer my zucchini to not be mushy and still have the slightest amount of crunch in it so I always wane on the side of less time.
~ Don't have everything to make the crumble on top? No problem. The way I had it growing up was simply the meat, sauce and cheese on top.
~ I have also done this recipe with ground beef and it worked great. I would assume any other ground meat would be equally as good.