Watch the video showing you how to make this recipe, then scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make it at home.
My son Brooks acquired a new hobby one summer while we were on vacation: fishing. He hooked up with his East Coast cousins and their fishing neighbor named Eric. Eric had all kinds of gear that he let the kids use, and he taught them how to catch fish off the docks and the jetty of Boston’s South Shore. Brooks spent a lot of time with Eric and those fishing poles that summer. He was on a mission to catch the biggest fish around, and I think he’d have fished all day every day if we’d let him. Brooks came home from fishing one day and told us he’d already eaten dinner- Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats- at Eric’s house. “Did you say, Zucchini Boats??” I asked him. “Yep,” he said. Now, you have to understand that my boy would no sooner eat small piece of zucchini floating in a bowl of soup… let alone an ENTIRE ZUCCHINI stuffed with stuff. Yet, he came home from fishing and happily told me how much he looooooved Eric’s Stuffed Zucchini Boats. Surely he was just being polite, right??
So at this point I decided that obviously Eric had obviously been catapulted into “God” category because he was so generous with his time and fishing equipment. Brooks lived for fishing that summer, and Eric was his ticket to have fun fishing with his cousins. I decided that I simply must re-create this God-like zucchini dish that Brooks loved so much. I asked him a bunch of questions about what could have been in that magical zucchini boat he ate, and he gave me some tips. Here’s what I came up with…
I scraped out the insides of the zucchini and saved them to sauté with a little bit of onion and garlic and sweet Italian sausage. I drained the mixture after that since the zucchini brings a lot of moisture into the mix. Then I mixed it all with fresh basil, marinara sauce and cheese. That’s it.
The zucchini boats were stuffed.
A little bit of cheese sprinkled on top too.
And then baked for 30 minutes.
I served these Sausage Stuffed Zucchini boats over a some Parmesan Rice (just the stuff you buy in the box- a quickie). I could hardly believe my eyes when I observed Brooks eating bite after bite of my zucchini boats. The kiddo said he loved them and gobbled up more than one. I’m thinking I might need to bake Eric some cookies next summer to thank him for all of that fishing, but most importantly- to thank him for finding a delicious way to get my son to eat and enjoy zucchini. Yay for Eric! If you’re looking for more recipes using zucchini, you might also enjoy my Zucchini- Beef Enchiladas or this Roasted Zucchini with Garlic. Pineapple Zucchini Bread and Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries are also good choices.
