1 pound ground sausage, cooked and drained of fat
2 small zucchini, sliced
2 small yellow squash, sliced
1 medium white onion, diced
1-2 cans spaghetti sauce (depending on taste)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Saute the sausage, zucchini, yellow squash, and onion until the vegetables are tender. Add the sauce; warm up. Throw some cheese on the top until melted. Serve as it is, or with some pasta.

It’s so good! The flavors really blend well. The veggies are slightly crunchy, too, so it’s just terrific stuff.

Basically, she used the same ingredients (massively increasing the measurements to feed 10, of course) . Instead of making boats, she diced the zucchini and made a casserole. Oh my word– it was soooo good!! All of the kids ate it except the Picky One. They kids even had seconds! This is a great recipe. If you have extraneous zucchini, I suggest you give it a go.

Well, here’s a recipe that everyone is forced to eat that everyone enjoys. Stuffed Zucchini! You know, I did not know this was a “real” recipe for the longest time. Here I am, thinking I made it up, and lo and behold I see other people writing about it. Sheesh.

So this recipe is customizable. You can make it Plain Jane Family Fare like I have here, or you can go Puttin’ On the Ritz Fancy by doing things like replacing the mozzarella cheese with provolone slices; or adding things like tarragon or marjoram; or using freshly sliced tomatoes or add some leftover spaghetti sauce instead of the canned tomatoes; whatever floats your boat. And you can slice the zucchini lengthwise to scoop out the pulp, or get really fancy and make cylinders and stuff it in the other direction. It’s very versatile, and you can go hog wild with it.

Stuffed Zucchini
Serves 6
3-6 small or medium-sized zucchini, depending on your family’s tolerance for the veggie
1 pound ground sausage
1 medium Vidalia, white, or red onion
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Note: Some folks parboil the zucchini before slicing it, but I don’t. I like my zucchini firm.

Cook the ground sausage, add the onion and chopped garlic near the end of the cooking to soften them. Add the tomatoes and cook for 4-5 minutes. In the meantime, prepare your zucchini: slice your zucchini and scoop out the seeds and a little bit of the pulp. You will throw away the seeds, but dice up the pulp to use as an ingredient in the stuffing.

Remove your sausage/onion/garlic/tomato mixture from the stove and let it cool for a few minutes. Add the spices, Parmesan Cheese, the zucchini pulp, and the bread crumbs, and mix well.

Arrange your zucchini “boats” (or cylinders) in a large, lightly-greased casserole dish. Carefully spoon the mix into the boats. Take your mozzarella cheese and sprinkle generously over the boats.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. If you have parboiled the zucchini, bake for less time, about 30 minutes.

Serve with a side dish of boiled elbows and sauce, or a nice green salad and crusty bread. Yum!

Photo courtesy of DallasNews.