It’s Zucchini Fest 2011! I have so much zucchini it’s not even funny. This giant came from my mom’s garden. This summer her garden is producing a crap load of squash (so you know what we’ve been eating). She told me she had a big one that she was saving for me when I came to visit… Well I had no idea it was THIS big! Holy moley! I named him Monstro… In honor of the whale.
It’s HUGE!
I decided to make the entire thing in one night. I was so excited to come up with creative ways to cook this thing- So for dinner we had stuffed zucchini cups, zucchini fritters, and finished off with some zucchini bread for dessert! (Check out my next blog post for the zucchini fritters). And now- the beginning to Zucchini Fest 2011!!
But first, some more pictures.. Yeah.. I had a little fun with the thing.
The 80’s called, they want their cell phone back
Stuffed Zucchini Cups
Ingredients:
- 1 GIANT Zucchini (or a couple plain old regular ones)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 Cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 10 oz Package of frozen spinach
- 1 Leek, finely chopped (husks removed, only use the light green part)
- Smoked paprika, thyme, salt, pepper
- 3 Pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces
- (Bacon!? Can it be? I normally don’t eat or cook or even associate myself with the thing called “bacon”… but my boyfriend really likes it and I was feeling generous. Besides, a little bit every once in a while can’t hurt.) And as it turned out, the bacon made these stuffed zucchini cups really good!
To Do:
Start by cooking the bacon and setting it aside to cool once it’s done (Or omit this step and make it vegetarian)
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
Cut the large zucchini into large cylinders and hollow out the middle like pictured below. Don’t hollow them out all the way, make sure to leave about 3/4 of an inch left at the bottom.
Chop up the zucchini insides you just scooped out and toss them into a pan with some olive oil, along with the chopped onion and leek. Cook until soft.
Meanwhile, mince the garlic and defrost your frozen spinach and add it to a bowl with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and chopped bacon pieces. Add the cooked onion and leek too.
Stir everything together, adding seasonings to taste.
Place your zucchini cups on a cookie sheet, with a light non-stick spray, and fill them up with the stuffing.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops start to brown.
Eat with a knife and fork. Yum!
Giant stuffed Zucchini cups