Pizza-Stuffed Zucchini
Aug 18, 2020
If you’re like me, I regularly crave a good pizza. At this time, I’m working with a fitness coach and her keto program so I’m always trying to find ways to make food that doesn’t taste or feel like I’m restricting myself. I don’t believe in “diet” and I know our bodies are happier when we get to eat things that are well-flavored.
It’s also summer and many folks have the “problem” of having too many zucchini in their garden. To me that’s a problem I’d love to have, but I’m frequently the happy recipient of my friends’ bounty.
This recipe came of the convergence of summer zucc’s along with pizza on a keto program. It has all the flavor of your standard pizza, but none of the guilt… In this case, I had a mixture of round zucc’s (Ronde de Nice variety) along with both striped zucchini and the “regular” green standbys. You can always mix and match, just try to keep them roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
Another fun thing about this recipe is you can tailor it to your liking. Have Italian Sausage? Great…brown it and crumble it before you cook your zucchini and onion mixture and add it with your pepperoni, if you like. Want to add some sliced black olives? Pop those in with the zucchini/cheese stuffing mixture or top the stuffed zucchini before baking. There’s no limit to the flavors you can combine — if it works on a pizza, you can use it here.
So, whether you are low-carbing/keto surfing or just eating lighter, this is a guaranteed pleaser. Drop me a note and let me know what you think — I always enjoy your comments and feedback!
Pizza Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini
- 1 small onion
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup marinara sauce
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup pepperoni slices
- Extra Parmesan and fresh basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 450°. Halve each zucchini lengthwise and cut a small slice off the "bottom" so that it sits flat on your surface. Using a spoon, remove the flesh and any seeds from the zucchini. Finely chop the zucchini flesh and set aside.
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Slice the pepperoni slices into thin strips and reserve.
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Spray the bottom of a baking dish, large enough to hold the zucchini with baking spray or spray oil.
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Using a box grater, grate the onion. Finely mince or press the garlic clove. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and zucchini flesh and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
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Transfer zucchini mixture to a medium sized bowl and add the marinara, ricotta, 3/4 cup of mozzarella, 1/2 the zucchini strips, Parmesan, oregano and thyme. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.
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Divide the mixture among the zucchini shells. Sprinkle filled zucchini with remaining mozzarella and zucchini slivers. Bake zucchini until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. If desired, broil zucchini for 2-3 minutes for additional browning.
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Garnish zucchini with additional Parmesan and basil slivers, if desired.
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