When we were children, we had a farm, where we went with our cousins and grandparents for the whole summer. It was in Connecticut, in the country, and far from our home in Westchester, NY. The best thing about the farm was the swimming pool and the enormous vegetable garden. We kids loved to go there and help pick tomatoes. Often we would return to the house covered in tomato juice and seeds after having an all out tomato war using rotten tomatoes as bullets. Our mothers were not thrilled. We also picked zucchini as big as baseball bats for a favorite summer dinner of stuffed zucchini boats. I’m sure you can guess what we did with those. lol.
Making stuffed zucchini using my mother’s recipe was very time consuming and also included ingredients that IBS folks would find challenging. So I adapted it to fit an IBS kitchen by using ground turkey instead of beef and RAO’s marinara sauce for sensitive tummies. I also used grated reggiano parmesan cheese which is well aged and free of lactose as well as just a little grated mozzarella cheese. If you can’t tolerate mozzarella just leave it off.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. ground turkey, 93% lean and 7% fat (or use half chicken Italian sausage and half ground turkey.
3 small zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise.
Bunch of fresh basil
1 garlic clove
1 egg
1/8 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped green scallion light green stems or chives.
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated reggiano parmesan cheese
1/2 cup or more grated mozzarella cheese
1 jar of Rao’s marinara sauce for sensitive tummies or 1 quart of whatever safe marinara sauce you make or use.
DIRECTIONS:
Wash the zucchini and split in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and pulp and reserve in a bowl.
Wash the peppers, cut off the tops, remove the seeds and cut each pepper in half.
In a large pot of boiling water, blanche the zucchini and pepper shells until soft, but still crisp. (about three minutes.) Remove from pot and set aside to drain.
In a frying pan, place the olive oil and heat until shimmering. Place thinly sliced garlic into the pan and saute it until it permeates the oil with garlic flavor. Remove the garlic. Throw in the chopped scallion stems or chives, the seeds and pulp and sauté them until a bit translucent and softened (about three minutes.) Place the mixture in a bowl.
Fry the ground turkey in the oil until browned and no longer pink. Place the meat into the bowl with the seed and pulp mixture.
Add two or three tablespoons of marinara sauce to the bowl and stir in. Add the egg and parmesan cheese. Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil. Stir to mix together well. If mixture seems too runny, add more parmesan. This is the filling for the boats.
Take out a 9×13 baking pan and cover the bottom with a layer of marinara sauce. Pat dry the zucchini and pepper shells. Place them on a clean counter, fill them with the filling mixture and place them in the baking pan. Cover the tops of every boat with 2 or 3 tbsps. of tomato sauce. Then sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese and then, if using, sprinkle on the grated mozzarella cheese.
Place the pan in a 400° degree oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbling and crusty on top. It should look like the picture in this post.
If you are not baking it right away, cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until ready to serve. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling and crusty on top. Serves 2 to 4.
Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground turkey 93% lean and 7% fat (or use half chicken Italian sausage and half ground turkey.
- 3 small zucchini sliced in half lengthwise.
- Bunch of fresh basil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 egg
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped green scallion light green stems or chives.
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated reggiano parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup or more grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 jar of Rao's marinara sauce for sensitive tummies or 1 quart of whatever safe marinara sauce you make or use.
Instructions
- Wash the zucchini and split in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and pulp and reserve in a bowl.
- Wash the peppers, cut off the tops, remove the seeds and cut each pepper in half.
- In a large pot of boiling water, blanche the zucchini and pepper shells until soft, but still crisp. (about three minutes.) Remove from pot and set aside to drain.
- In a frying pan, place the olive oil and heat until shimmering. Place thinly sliced garlic into the pan and saute it until it permeates the oil with garlic flavor. Remove the garlic. Throw in the chopped scallion stems or chives, the seeds and pulp and sauté them until a bit translucent and softened (about three minutes.) Place the mixture in a bowl.
- Fry the ground turkey in the oil until browned and no longer pink. Place the meat into the bowl with the seed and pulp mixture.
- Add two or three tablespoons of marinara sauce to the bowl and stir in. Add the egg and parmesan cheese. Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil. Stir to mix together well. If mixture seems too runny, add more parmesan. This is the filling for the boats.
- Take out a 9x13 baking pan and cover the bottom with a layer of marinara sauce. Pat dry the zucchini and pepper shells. Place them on a clean counter, fill them with the filling mixture and place them in the baking pan. Cover the tops of every boat with 2 or 3 tbsps. of tomato sauce. Then sprinkle the tops with parmesan cheese and then, if using, sprinkle on the grated mozzarella cheese.
- Place the pan in a 400° degree oven and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbling and crusty on top. It should look like the picture in this post.
- If you are not baking it right away, cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until
