Stuffed Baked Zucchini…

I picked up this wonderful zucchini from a farm stand. Mainly I was amazed to find huge zucchinis’ and to my surprise it was only a dollars not sold by the lb but by the piece. I didn’t know what to do with this I asked the lady at the farm stand she explained to be that I can stuff and bake it. I have not seen, eaten, or tasted something like that before. But I bought it anyway she had a huge pile of over grown zucchini. I wish I had my camera with me to get all those lovely pictures of her farm and lovely crop. My daughter was fascinated with two cats and there were basking in the sun. I do have to say her corn was very sweet. We loved it very much wish I bought some more.
After arriving home I googled how to bake stuff zucchini. I learned in England they call the same dish stuffed marrow I thought it was interesting. I didn’t have any of the fresh herbs that it was calling for. So I made some changes and came up with my own stuffing. It was great my daughter and I loved it very much but to my SURPRISED not the BOYS. Since the zucchini was huge I shared some with friends… some really like it.
So anyone who is growing zucchini this summer and finds some that has overgrown under its beautiful leaves here is something you might want to try. I am in a quest this summer to cook this wonderful vegetable as often as I could.
Here is what I did to make my stuffed baked zucchini…
Ingredients:
1 large onion
2 carrots
1-3 cloves of garlic (if you like more garlic go on and add to your taste)
1 bunch of spring onions
1 lb ground beef
1-3 cardamom pods
1 clove
1 teaspoon of peppercorns (add according to your taste… I like to give a kick)
¼ cup of ketchup
vegetable rub if you have if not use salt and black pepper

For the topping:
Bread crumbs (I didn’t have this I used corn meal)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
I teaspoon dried sage leaves
Salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients and set a side

Method:

Wash and cut the zucchini lengthwise. Clean the seeds and the flesh to make a channel to fill your stuffing. I used a little bit of vegetable rub on the zucchini channels before filling with meat. And set them on a tray.

Preheat the oven 375 F.

Add a little oil/butter and sauté the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the carrots and cook until it turns bright orange.
Add the meat and cook until brown you will see liquid and continue to cook until all the liquid is absorbed by meat now add the powdered spices (cardamom, clove, and the pepper cones) add salt to taste at this point. Add ketchup and continue to cook. For about a minute or two, now mix in the spring onions and turned off the heat.
Fill your prepared zucchini channels with cooked meat don’t press it fill it loosely. Sprinkle your topping evenly and baked the zucchini on 375 F for about 40-50 minutes. Serve while it is hot with salads or cooked pasta.
Quote of the day “remember the joy of cooking”

Enjoy!