While I enjoy cooking, I severely underestimated how tiring deciding what’s for dinner every night would get while living on my own. While I have some favorite, go to recipes, I’m always on the lookout for new ones to spice up my dinner rotation. Recently, I’ve been looking for recipes that incorporate vegetables and while this one doesn’t quite fit the bill (zucchini is technically a fruit), I wanted to share my Italian zucchini boats recipe.
Easy Weeknight Dinner: Italian Zucchini Boats | Washington DC Blogger
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Featured | Easy Dinner Ideas: Italian Zucchini Boats:
Ingredients Needed for Italian Zucchini Boats
Here’s a rundown of what you’ll need in order to make this recipe for two servings.
- 1 large zucchini
- 1/2 pound of ground Italian sausage (I get mine from Wegmans)
- 1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 2 Tbsp of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
- half of a yellow or sweet onion
- 1/2 cup of vodka blush sauce
- 1 Tbsp of Italian style/seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp of olive oil
- kosher salt
- pepper
- Italian seasoning
- Cooking spray
Instructions for Making Zucchini Boat and What to Do with the Insides
Start things off by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. While the oven preheats, rinse your zucchini and cut it in half longwise. Use a paring knife to score the edges of the zucchini and then hollow the zucchini halves into boats using a spoon or melon scooper. You can toss the inside of the zucchini or save them — I love to keep them and have sautéed zucchini as a side on a different day.
After you’ve hollowed your zucchini boats, spray lightly with cooking spray and season with kosher salt and pepper. Place the boats onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
Making the Zucchini Boat Filling | Easy Weeknight Dinner: Italian Zucchini Boats
While the boats are in the oven, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Once olive oil is heated, sauté half of an onion until translucent. Add in the ground Italian sausage with the onions and cook til browned. Be sure to break up the meat while cooking. (Note: I typically find the ground Italian sausage in 1 lb packages so I tend to cook the full amount and then put half into a Tupperware for later.)
Lower heat to medium and season with Italian seasoning, black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Mix well and add the vodka blush sauce. Stir over low heat until sauce is warmed.
Last Step of Prep | Easy Weeknight Dinner: Italian Zucchini Boats
Fill each boat with the Italian sausage and vodka sauce mixture. Top each zucchini boat with mozzarella cheese and breadcrumbs. Place back in oven for 15 minutes.
Enjoy Plus Reheating Instructions | Easy Weeknight Dinner: Italian Zucchini Boats
This recipe has been a recent favorite of mine; it has great flavors, is easy to make and reheats well! As an added bonus: if you make the full pound of meat and onion mixture, the Italian sausage can be reheated and combined with pasta sauce for a quick weeknight pasta -or- can be used for zucchini boats on a different night.
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