Do you have some extra large zucchini? Fill with Italian sausage, onions, garlic, tomatoes and fresh breadcrumbs and bake. (Swap in medium-sized zucchini, too!)
Dear gardeners, you know this story well. You step away from your garden bed for a minute (or a weekend) and come back to find a monster zucchini hiding in the greenery.
Sometimes the plant warns you. Regular zucchini production is beginning to slow down, unusual for early summer. The reason? All of the plant’s attention will be focused on feeding that one giant baseball bat of Zuke’s.
How to make stuffed zucchini
Preparing stuffed zucchini is easy. You simply cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides, leaving a bowl to fill with whatever your heart desires.
This week my heart was calling for Italian Sausage, so my friends this is what we’re using to fill this special zucchini.
We brown some Italian sausage, onion, garlic and some zucchini insides and mix it with fresh breadcrumbs, basil, tomatoes, oregano and Parmesan cheese. One egg is all you need to tie the filling together.
These stuffed zucchini boats go in the oven to bake for 40 minutes. Yummy!
Need to advance? You can easily stuff the zucchini a day in advance. Simply stuff the zucchini, keep refrigerated, and bake right before serving.
This is a meal in itself – nothing else needs to be served with it.
Incidentally, zucchini tend to get watery and mushy when they freeze, so we don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
Swaps and Substitutions
- Small zucchini: Use 3 to 4 regular sized courgettes in place of the giant courgettes. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until zucchini is tender when pierced.
- Vegetarian: Replace the sausage with sautéed chopped mushrooms.
- Non dairy: Substitute or omit the parmesan with nutritional yeast.
- Gluten free: Use gluten-free breadcrumbs or leave them out.
More ways to cook stuffed zucchini
- Zucchini stuffed with pesto
- Stuffed zucchini with turkey sausage
- Stuffed zucchini with ham and mushrooms
- Taco-stuffed zucchini boats
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Giant sausage stuffed zucchini
You can stuff the zucchini a day ahead and bake right before serving.
ingredients
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2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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1/2 pound Italian sausage, removed from casing
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1 large zucchini, 12 to 14 inches long (about 1 1/4 to 2 pounds) or 3 to 4 medium zucchini
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1 cup chopped onion
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3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
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2 slices bread, pulsed in food processor or blender to make fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 cup)
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2 medium tomatoes, chopped
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1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
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1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
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3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
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1 large egg, lightly beaten
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3/4 teaspoon salt (less or more to taste)
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1 teaspoon ground black pepper
method
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Preheat oven to 375°F
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Cook the sausage
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook gently until mostly (but not fully) cooked through.
Stir frequently and break the sausage into smaller pieces as it cooks. Pour into a large bowl and set aside.
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Prepare zucchini
Halve the zucchini. Use a metal spoon to scoop out the insides of the zucchini, leaving the zucchini skin about 1/4 inch thick. Remove and discard any thick cores from the hollowed out interior.
Chop up about a cup of the remaining zucchini flesh. (Whatever is left over one cup can be used for another purpose, discarded, or composted.)
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Cook onions and garlic
You should have 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan (curdled from the sausage). If not, add more olive oil so you have at least a tablespoon of fat in the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds.
Add the chopped zucchini and cook another minute or two, remove from the pan and add to the bowl with the sausage.
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Make the filling
Add the remaining ingredients for the filling to the sausage and onions.
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Stuff and bake the zucchini
Place the zucchini halves in a casserole dish and add the filling. (At this point you can go ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.) Add 1/4-inch of water to the bottom of the pan, which will help cook the zucchini evenly and prevent the bottom from drying out too much in the oven.
Bake at 375°F for 40 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
