Description
Sun-dried tomatoes, lean sausage and Cabot cheddar jazz up the quinoa based filling for this delicious stuffed zucchini dish. It will have even quinoa-haters thinking twice.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 4 large zucchini
- 1 cup cooked ground mild sausage (crumbled)
- 2 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 small yellow onion (diced)
- 1 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes in oil (drained and chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Cabot Legacy Collection White Oak Cheddar (about 3/4 of a bar)
- 1/4 cup parsley (finely chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Heat large skillet over medium heat. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook sausage in skillet. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate. Wipe out skillet.
- Meanwhile, with a sharp knife, cut zucchini in half length-wise from stem to end. Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out center flesh of zucchini leaving it hollow. Reserve ½ cup of the flesh and chop it into small pieces. (The rest of it is great for stir fries, juicing or smoothies.)
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet, then add the onion and chopped zucchini. Sautee for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and pour contents into a heat safe bowl.
- Add the cooked sausage crumbles and cooked quinoa to the bowl of cooked veggies. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and the chopped parsley. Gently fold in all ingredients until combined. Once mixture has cooled slightly, fold in 1 cup shredded Cabot cheese.
- Coat a baking pan (9 x 13 or two 9 x 9) with cooking oil or spray. Arrange hollowed zucchinis in a single layer. Generously scoop quinoa mixture into each zucchini filling till almost overflowing.
- Bake, in the center of oven, for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn on broiler. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup of shredded Cabot cheese on top of zucchinis. Broil for 2 minutes, watching carefully to not burn (it may take you slightly less than 2 minutes). Remove from oven and serve.
Notes
I suggest cooking the sausage and quinoa ahead of time for faster prepping. Both freeze well and can be thrown in to the mixture frozen. It will defrost while cooking.
Adapted from Eating Well.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Category: Entree