Years ago I was at a friends house and her neighbor brought over some zucchini, fresh from his garden. Jeanne was so excited because she couldn’t decide what to make for dinner that evening with the ground beef she had defrosted. She immediately started making the meat sauce and the aroma was tantalizing. When the sauce was done cooking, she gave me a spoonful to try and let me tell you, it was even better than I had anticipated. I left her house with recipe in hand and headed straight to the store to buy the ingredients I needed and that’s what we had for dinner that night. My family loved it…even the zucchini part. It is also good with ground turkey.

This dish freezes well, so if you have an abundance of zucchini, make an extra batch or two and freeze for a later date !

Stuffed Zucchini

Recipe by Diane BeckerCourse: Main Dish – Beef

Servings

servings

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons salad oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup red wine (port or merlot)
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
2-3 pounds zucchini
Grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a skillet, brown onion in oil.
Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
Strain off the grease.
Return beef/onion mixture to the skillet.
Add the tomato sauce, wine, oregano, garlic powder, sugar, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer, cooking until liquid cooks down to a thickened stage (approximately 30 minutes).
While sauce is cooking, boil or steam the whole zucchini until semi-cooked.
Remove from stove and cool down with cold water.
10. Slice zucchini in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard.
11. Line up the zucchini halves in a 9×13 pan.
12.Spoon the meat mixture into the zucchini.(may be frozen at this stage if preparing an extra batch)
13. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.
14. Cover lightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
15. Remove from oven and let rest for a few minutes before serving.
16. Sprinkle with additional cheese if desired.