Why I like this…
Periodically, I ask my clients, friends, and followers what they want to eat or what they are craving so that I can develop recipes. I don’t know what the weather is where you are, but here in the northeast, we’ve experienced a series of winter storms filled with snow, ice, and freezing rain. The kind of weather you just want comfort food. This is where the idea of the protein-stuffed zucchini boats came in, which is kind of a take on stuff shells but without the pasta.
Why it matters…
These protein stuffed zucchini boats are exactly what the name implies… full of protein. Each serving has 29 grams of protein. But what about everything else? For those wondering about sodium content, each serving as 648 mg. It is also rich in things like calcium (390 grams for those trying to up theirs for bone health), phosphorus, potassium and phytonutrients like beta carotene and lycopene. One serving also provides 45% or more of the daily values of riboflavin, vitamin B12, vitamin C, copper and selenium. Boom what a dish!
Protein Stuffed Zucchini Boats
8
servings20
minutes50
minutes317
kcalThis dish is intentionally sauce-heavy to give it that warm, comfort food feel. If you want to reduce the sauce, you can reduce the crushed tomato sauce to 1.5 cups and 1 T of paste.
Ingredients
- Filling
1 Medium 1 medium onion (diced)
4 Medium 4 zucchini
1 Clove 1 garlic-diced
1 lb 1 ground turkey
1 Tsp 1 extra virgin olive oil
2 Cups 2 mozzarella cheese
1/4 Cup 1/4 parsley- chopped
- Sauce
2 Cloves 2 garlic- diced (approx 2 tsp)
2 Tbsp 2 tomato paste
3 Cups 3 crushed tomatoes
1 Cup 1 low-sodium tomato sauce
1 Tsp 1 extra virgin olive oil
2 Tsp 2 dried oregano
2 Tsp 2 dried basil
2 Tsp 2 dried rosemary (chop into smaller amounts)
2 Tsp 2 dried thyme
Directions
- Preheat oven to 475F.
- Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and hollow out the flesh, leaving about 1/4-inch shell. Put flesh aside.
- Chop the zucchini flesh and set aside.
- Combine cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, and parsley in a bowl and set aside.
- Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a pot, add 2 tsp of garlic and cook until slightly browned.
- Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, low-sodium tomato sauce, and herbs (basil, oregano, chopped rosemary, and thyme). Simmer for 20 minutes.
- While the sauce simmers, saute 1 tsp of garlic with the diced onion in 1 tsp olive oil until translucent. Then add the chopped zucchini and cook the moisture out for another 5-7 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey and cook thoroughly (about 4-5 minutes) to remove any remaining moisture.
- Combine the turkey and cottage cheese mixtures in a large bowl until the filling is well blended.
- Spoon about a cup of sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. Then, place the zucchini boats face up in the baking dish.
- Place the filling into the boats using a spoon until they are overstuffed.
- Take the remaining sauce and spoon over the zucchini-filled boats. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and the parmesan cheese.
- Place boats into the oven and cook for 18 minutes.
