Cheesy Zucchini Boats Recipes

CHEESY GRILLED ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Preheat the grill. Preheat your grill to High heat (400-450 degrees F). Place a 12" cast iron skillet on your grill and allow that to preheat as well.
• Make the sausage filling. Cook the ground sausage in the skillet until golden brown. Drain off the rendered fat and then stir in the softened cream cheese until evenly incorporated with the sausage.
• Stuff the zucchini. Use a spoon to scrape out and discard the seeds and pulp from inside the zucchini to form the boat shape. Spoon the cream cheese sausage filling into each of the zucchini boats. Spread about 1/2 Tablespoon of basil pesto on top of the sausage mixture in each boat. Sprinkle each boat with 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella.
• Grill the zucchini boats. Place the stuffed zucchini boats onto the grill and close the lid. Grill for 4-5 minutes, then rotate the boats around the grill to avoid any hot spots. Close the lid and grill for 4-5 more minutes. You want the cheese to be melty and the zucchini to be tender-crisp. It should be softened, but still firm enough to remove from the grill to your serving tray without falling apart.
• Remove from the grill and serve. Promptly remove the zucchini from the grill. Top with chopped Italian parsley before serving, if desired.

ZUCCHINI BOATS STUFFED WITH CHEESY GRITS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise to create 2 long pieces. Scrape a small, ideally pointed spoon down the center of the zucchini halves to remove and discard the flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch of flesh intact. Place the zucchini boats on the prepared baking sheet.
• Place a saucepot over medium heat and add the butter. Heat until melted, then brush the cavities of the zucchini boats with the butter. Add the chicken stock and reserved hominy liquid to the remaining melted butter and heat until simmering. Whisk in the grits and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the grits have softened and thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the pimientos, beans, chives, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 cup hominy (save the remaining hominy for another use). Season to taste. Remove from the heat and allow to cool briefly. (The grits will continue to thicken as they cool.)
• Sprinkle the zucchini boats with salt and pepper. Spread about 1/4 cup of the grits into each zucchini boat, mounding the filling over the edges. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the boats.
• Roast until the boats have softened and the cheese just starts to brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Sprinkle with the fresh parsley and serve immediately.

ZUCCHINI BOATS WITH GROUND BEEF

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with foil.
• Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Chop and reserve about 3/4 of the seeds for the stuffing.
• Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add zucchini boats and cook uncovered for 4 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately immerse in ice water for several minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside.
• Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add ground beef; cook and stir until browned and broken into very small pieces, 5 to 7 minutes. Add rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper and stir some more. Quickly add reserved chopped zucchini pulp, onion, and carrot; continue to cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in red wine and Worcestershire and allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add beef stock and cook for 3 minutes more. Simmer until mixture reduces, about 10 minutes.
• Place zucchini boats in the foil-lined dish and divide meat mixture evenly between them. Sprinkle each with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is browned and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Trim the ends off zucchini. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving 1/2-in. shells. Finely chop pulp. , In a skillet, cook beef, zucchini pulp, onion, mushrooms and peppers over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from the heat. Add 1/2 cup cheese, ketchup, salt and pepper; mix well. Spoon into the zucchini shells. Place in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. , Bake, uncovered, at 350° until zucchini is tender, 25-30 minutes.

OLIVE-CHEESE ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out and reserve pulp, leaving 1/4-in. shells. Place zucchini shells, cut side down, in a skillet. Add water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes or until tender; drain. , Turn shells cut side up; sprinkle with salt. Chop zucchini pulp; saute in a small saucepan in butter for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in bread crumbs and olives. Spoon into the zucchini shells; sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook over medium heat (with no added water) for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

CHEESY CHORIZO ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Heat grill to medium-high heat.
• Scoop out seeds and flesh from centers of zucchini halves, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shells. Discard flesh and seeds. Grill zucchini 2 to 3 min. on each side or until tender.
• Cook chorizo, peppers and onions in medium skillet on medium heat until done, stirring frequently. Add corn; cook and stir 2 min. or until heated through.
• Place Singles pieces in zucchini shells; top with chorizo mixture.

CHEESY ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Using a small spoon, scoop out the zucchini flesh, leaving a 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick shell.
• Wrap the zucchini flesh in a paper towel and squeeze out any excess liquid; discard the liquid and set aside the flesh.
• Place the zucchini shells cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 T olive oil over high heat.
• Add the zucchini flesh and onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Push the vegetables to the side of the pan, add the remaining 1 T oil and the bread crumbs, and toast the bread crumbs for 2 minutes.
• Remove from the heat, stir in the nuts and oregano, then combine with the vegetables; season with salt and pepper.
• Flip over the zucchini shells and line the bottoms with the mozzarella.
• Pack in the filling.
• Sprinkle with parmesan on top.
• Bake until the zucchini is tender when pierced with a fork, 20-25 minutes.

GRILLED BACON, EGG AND CHEESE ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Prepare a grill for medium-high indirect heat: For gas grills (with 3 or more burners), turn all the burners to medium-high heat; after about 15 minutes turn off the middle burner for 3-burner grills or the 2 middle burners for grills with 4 or more burners and keep the other 2 burners at medium high. For charcoal grills, bank one chimney starter-full of lit and ashed-over charcoal briquettes to one side of the grill. Set up a drip pan on the other side to avoid flare-ups. (The grill should be around 400 degrees F. Be sure to consult the grill manufacturer's guide for the best results.)
• Slice the zucchinis down the middle, lengthwise like a hotdog, so that you have 4 long, equal pieces of zucchini. Use a teaspoon to remove the flesh of the zucchini, being sure to leave a 1/4-inch border and to not pierce the bottom of the zucchini. Finely chop 1/2 cup of the zucchini flesh and discard or save the remainder for another use. Place the chopped zucchini flesh into a clean kitchen towel and wring out as much liquid as possible. Place the zucchini flesh into a medium liquid measuring cup or bowl.
• Flip the zucchini boats over so that the peel side is facing up and brush all four pieces with olive oil. Season the peel side with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper, then flip over and season the flesh side with another 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper.
• Add the Cheddar, Havarti, chives, cream, eggs, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper to the liquid measuring cup or bowl with the zucchini flesh. Whisk until well combined. Pour the mixture into the cavity of each zucchini boat.
• Using both hands to lift the zucchini carefully, place the filled boat in the middle of the grill over indirect heat (where the burner is turned off), cover, and cook until the eggs have puffed up slightly and are just set, 25 to 30 minutes. Use grilling tongs to remove the zucchini to a cutting board. Carefully wrap each zucchini boat in 1 of the bacon strips. Return to the grill over indirect heat and continue grilling, covered, until the eggs are completely set and the bacon is warmed and just crispy, 18 to 20 minutes.

CHEESY BACON ZUCCHINI BOATS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375. Dice bacon.
• Brown in skillet.
• Remove bacon and drain on paper towel. Reserve grease.
• Cut zucchini in half lengthwise.
• Heat on a microwave-safe plate, cut side down, for about 3-4 minutes to soften.
• Using a kitchen towel to protect your hands, remove zucchini pulp using a spoon.
• In reserved grease, slightly saute onions until soft and translucent.
• Add pulp, and garlic to onions and cook a few more minutes.
• Stir in Parmesan cheese, bacon, and ground pepper; remove from heat.
• Place zucchini in the pan. Cover the bottom of each with a small amount of mozzarella.
• Fill shells with the hot filling.
• Melt butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Add bread crumbs.
• Top each zucchini with about 1 tsp of crumbs.
• Bake for about 35-45 minutes until zucchini are tender, the filling is bubbly, and bread crumbs are browned.

QUICK ZUCCHINI CHEESE BOATS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F.
• coat a 9 by 13 glass cooking dish with cooking spray. Cut 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick lengthwise slice from each zucchini.
• Chop the slices and reserve.
• Scoop out most of the flesh from each zucchini, leaving just a shell.
• Chop together the flesh and add the spices from above.
• In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add the chopped bacon and cook for three minutes.
• Then add the zucchini mixture.
• Cook, stirring occasionally for 7 minutes (about).
• Stir in bread crumbs and 3/4 cup of the cheese.
• Cook for another minute more.
• Spoon about 1/2 cup filling into each zucchini boat.
• Place each boat in the baking dish and add 1/4 cup hot water to the dish.
• Cover with foil.
• Bake at 375°F for 25 minutes.
• Uncover and sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheese.
• Bake, uncovered, for 5 more minutes until cheese is melted.