The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

My chief complaint about my apartment is the lack of a garden. My black thumb/tendency to kill all plant life aside, I would love nothing more to get a big ol’ veggie garden going out back. Grow some tomatoes, some fresh basil, some peppers, maybe some squash. Since this is an impossibility in my current abode, I take the second best options and shop at farmer’s markets and/or relieve my coworkers and friends of an overabundance of fresh veggies from THEIR gardens.

One of my coworkers remarked the other day that her zucchinis were out of control and she was running out of room. A group of my coworkers and I generously offered to take the excess of her hands and so yesterday I was presented with a zucchini and a summer squash, both as big as my head.

And you know I have a BIG head.



I immediately set about finding a good main dish recipe to use for this magnificent specimen. I settled on Stuffed Zukes and tweaked a recipe I found on Epicurious.com that originally called for mushrooms (ick) and ground veal (double ick). I substituted in Italian Style chicken sausage for a healthier and less cruel option and added diced tomatoes in lieu of the dreaded fungi, along with a few other tweaks and twists.

This was a little time consuming to make. I started it around 6PM and we didn’t eat until after 8PM so I would suggest making and cooking the stuffing the night before if you are usually in a time crunch around dinner time. Or I would suggest picking up a nice bottle of wine to enjoy while this super delicious and divine dinner cooks.

Stuffed Zukes
Makes 4 main dish servings*

1 huge zucchini as big as your head OR 4 medium sized ones
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
14 oz can basil & oregano diced tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 pound crumbled chicken sausage (Italian Style)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or basil in a TUBE)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons Olivio (or butter or margarine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper preparation
Chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Scoop out the insides of the zucchini halves with a small spoon and chop up. Reserve the cored halves and the insides.



Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and sauté onions and garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and sauté for 2 minutes more. Add the celery and the reserved insides of the zucchini and continue to cook for 4 or 5 minutes. Add the white wine and basil and cook it down for 1 minute.



In a separate pan over medium heat cook sausage separately until brown (chicken sausage is usually precooked so you will probably only have to get it warm). Stir into tomato-zucchini mixture. Remove from the heat, place in a bowl, and allow to cool.



Once the mixture has cooled, blend in the cheese, egg, breadcrumbs, Olivio, salt, and pepper. Fill the cored zucchini with the mixture.

Fill a baking pan with 1/4 inch of chicken broth.

Place the filled zucchini halves in the pan and bake for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the zucchini carefully from the pan to a warm platter, spooning the juices from the pan on top of them, and serve.



What I like best about this recipe is you can totallty play around with it. Don't like chicken sausage? Ground turkey, pork or beef would work. Add whatever other veggies you think would be good. Use red wine instead of white, use a different squash in lieu of the zuke. The possibilities are endless!


* Also, for those of you, like me, who are only feeding two. This makes four servings (enough for seconds OR lunch the next day) with still a good amount of stuffing leftover. I froze the excess stuffing before adding the egg and cheese and Olivio and intend to toss it with some pasta and olive oil later in the week!