Zucchzilla

My co-worker brought me this giant zucchini! I just had to take a picture of it and share it with you all. It was grown in her friend's back yard. I go a little crazy for fresh produce, farmers markets and good food in general. This giant zucchini, which I have named "zucchzilla" has inspired the recipe below. I hope you like getting stuffed :)

Below is a picture of steak, salad, and stuffed zucchini dinner. I omitted ground turkey to make it a lighter side dish. We already had steak as the main protein. Still it was very flavorful.

Stuff it! Zucchini
• 4 large zucchini- cut horizontally & in ½
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ red onion, chopped
• ½ red pepper, chopped
• 1 tbsp Italian herb blend (thyme, basil, oregano)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp dried red chili flakes
• 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 cup shredded 2% mozzarella cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan cheese
• 1 c spaghetti sauce


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a rectangular deep baking dish w. non-stick.
2. Coat outside of sliced zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper
3. Bake seasoned Zucchini in deep baking dish for 10-15 mins until inside is slightly tender
4. While Zucchini bakes, Sautee onion, bell pepper, garlic powder, herbs, chili flakes, and ground turkey until brown, set mix aside
5. Cool baked Zucchini, scoop out seeds & a little of the inside flesh with a spoon ** Don’t tear zucchini skin **
6. Mix zucchini seeds & flesh with ground turkey mix, add mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs, and egg white. Mix ingredients well.
7. Divide the mixture generously into the zucchini halves. Return filled zucchini halves into baking dish and place side-by-side.
8. Spoon spaghetti sauce over zucchini. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 10-15 mins.

* You can modify this recipe in countless ways, For a Mexican twist: replace the Mozzarella cheese with Mexican blend, use taco instead of Italian seasonings, add black beans & corn to the ground meat, and top with salsa instead of spaghetti sauce.