Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed zucchini is a spicy stuffed dish which is prepared by stuffing zucchini (a popular summer squash) with meat and/or vegetable mix. The use of several spices, seasonings, herbs, and sauces while preparing the zucchini stuffing helps in augmenting the taste and flavor of the stuffed dish. There are quite a few variations of this dish explained in terms of use of distinct stuffing ingredients. The zucchini pulp (extracted after boiling zucchini for a few minutes in water) is combined with other ingredients like beef, asparagus, or eggplant to prepare the stuffing mix, which is often seasoned with pepper and salt. A few recipes also suggest the addition of poultry seasoning or Italian seasoning to enhance the flavor and savor of the dish.  

Commonly Used Ingredients and Preparation Overview of Stuffed Zucchini

A simple stuffed zucchini recipe suggests the use of zucchini, minced garlic, butter, finely chopped onions, poultry seasoning, soft bread cubes, pepper, and salt as the ingredients.

The preparation process suggests cooking zucchini in boiling water, cutting it lengthwise into two halves, scooping out the pulp, and filling the zucchini with stuffing mix prepared by sautéing onions, and garlic in butter, and then adding chopped zucchini pulp, poultry seasoning, bread cubes, pepper, and salt. Zucchini is then baked in oven until tender. The poultry seasoning used in this dish is a blend of thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, and pepper.

Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Variations

A few popular stuffed zucchini variations are discussed hereunder:

• Zucchini stuffed with eggplant- this dish is prepared by mincing together chopped eggplant, parsley, garlic, and zucchini pulp, and sautéing the mix in some oil, before stuffing it in zucchini. Thereafter, tomato slices are laid across zucchini and olive oil is drizzled on the top before baking zucchini in oven.

• Italian variant- The Italian stuffed zucchini recipe suggests combining parmesan cheese and several herbs like basil and parsley with sautéed mix of chopped zucchini pulp, onion, garlic, tomatoes, eggs, and seasonings, and filling the mix in zucchini (cut lengthwise). Thereafter, zucchini is baked after topping it with bread crumbs and some cheese.  

• Beef based variant- The recipe for this dish suggests stuffing zucchini with ground beef mix and baking it in oven after spooning over tomato sauce and sprinkling cheese on top of stuffed zucchini. The beef based zucchini stuffing is prepared by combining together ground beef, onions, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, breadcrumbs, beaten egg, dried parsley, basil, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and tomato sauce. The Italian seasoning used in this dish is prepared by mixing together basil, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.   

• Zucchini stuffed with asparagus- steamed asparagus is chopped and sautéed in butter before filing it in pre-steamed zucchini. Thereafter, béchamel sauce, prepared by combining together milk, butter, flour, salt, and cheese, is poured in zucchini, before baking it in oven. Some cheese is sprinkled on the top before the stuffed zucchini is baked.