Mediterranean Stuffed Zucchini |
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Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 50 Minutes |
Ready In: 70 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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Here's a delicious way to solve the problem of those too-big zucchinis ballooning in your garden at the end of the summer: zucchini boats baked and stuffed with lamb, feta, pine nuts, tomatoes, and more. It's just like your mother used to make, but with an exotic Mediterranean twist! Ingredients:
1 extra large zucchini, halved lengthwise |
1 tablespoon olive oil |
1 sweet onion, chopped |
1 tablespoon chopped garlic |
1 pound ground lamb |
coarse salt to taste |
ground black pepper to taste |
1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce |
2 tomatoes, chopped |
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese |
1/2 cup pine nuts |
1/4 cup mint leaves |
1/4 cup water |
1/4 cup mint leaves |
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs |
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese |
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Use a melon baller to separate and remove seeds and pulp separately from the zucchini, carving out each half and leaving about a half-inch shell. Chop zucchini pulp into pieces about 1/4 inch in diameter. Discard seeds.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add ground lamb; continue to cook and stir until lamb is lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir chopped zucchini into the lamb mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer mixture until the zucchini is hot, about 3 minutes. Drain excess grease. Season lamb mixture with coarse salt and black pepper.
4. Remove skillet from heat. Stir tomato sauce, tomatoes, feta cheese, pine nuts, and 1/4 cup mint leaves through the lamb mixture; spoon into the zucchini halves. Put stuffed zucchini halves into a large baking dish. Pour water into the baking dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Mix bread crumbs and mozzarella cheese in a bowl. Sprinkle 1/4 cup mint leaves over the zucchini and top with the bread crumb mixture. Continue baking until the top is crusty and browned, about 10 minutes more.
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