Stuffed Zucchini {Recipe}

Is anyone else still swimming in an abundance of summer squash? Around here we’ve had just about as much zucchini as we can handle, but I couldn’t resist creating one more straight-from-the-garden Summer recipe before I start shredding and freezing the rest of our garden’s bounty.

This dinner is incredibly simple, but it looks and tastes like something extra special. It’s a great basic recipe that can be tweaked to add your favorite flavors or to add whatever is overflowing in your garden – in our case, tomatoes!

Ingredients:

* Zucchini or yellow squash, cut into chunks at least 2″ across and 2″ tall

* 1 lb. ground turkey

* 3 roma tomatoes, finely chopped

* 1 1/2 cups shredded mozarella cheese (divided into 1 cup and 1/2 cup portions)

* 2 tbs minced garlic

* 2 cups pasta sauce

* 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

* 1 tsp. Italian seasoning

* 2 tsp. olive oil

Directions:

* Begin by using a melon baller (or similar tool) to hollow out your zucchini cups. Be sure to leave a 1/4″ thick bottom on the zucchini so that your filling won’t fall out! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place the zucchini cups on to a foil lined baking sheet (lightly greased with cooking spray).

* Sautee the onions and garlic in the olive oil. Add the turkey and chopped tomatoes and cook until almost done. You can also add in some of the zucchini that you removed from your shells, if desired.

* Remove from heat and stir in pasta sauce and 1 cup of mozarella cheese.

* Stuff your meat mixture into your zucchini cups making sure to press the mixture down with a spoon so that your cups are as packed full as can be! Bake for 20 minutes.

* Remove from the oven, top with remaining cheese, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and zucchini is tender.

Easy peasy! Bon appetite!