Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

A couple of months ago, when Mike (the boyfriend) and I would have normally spent our Friday night with friends or at the movies, we stayed in to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL Playoffs. Because it's crucial to never miss a Lightning playoff game, I decided to stay in and cook a meal that I had been itching to try: Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats from Kitchen Belleicious, who has some pretty fantastic recipes!

Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

(adapted and re-posted, with permission, from Jessica at Kitchen Belleicious)

Ingredients:

3 medium size zucchini

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1 pound of Italian sausage

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 tsp salt and pepper each

2 eggs

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp Emeril's Creole (Bayou Blast) seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, carefully scoop out flesh and seeds, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell around the edges. Discard seeds and set aside the flesh. Take the flesh and chop into small pieces for the stuffing. 

Cook the sausage until no longer pink. Drain and set aside. 

Saute the onions and peppers in the same cooking pan until nice and tender, approximately 6-8 minutes. Add the chopped flesh of the zucchini along with the seasonings and 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese.

In a large bowl, combine the sausage and veggie mixture with the breadcrumbs and eggs. Mix together with your hands until thoroughly combined. Place zucchini boats in a single layer in a greased baking dish and divide the stuffing equally among the boats, making sure to mound the stuffing. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake 35-40 minutes at 375* until stuffing looks nice and browned.

***

And that's all, folks! The original recipe has some extra ingredients, which I'm sure would only enhance the wonderful flavor of the filling, but being that I didn't have these ingredients on-hand, I opted out and just worked with what I had! Also, she used Slap Your Mama seasoning, but I couldn't find it at my local grocery store. Instead, I decided that Emeril's Cajun seasoning would be close enough!

Please go check out Kitchen Belleicious- you will not regret it! And special thanks to Jessica for the permission to re-print! 

*Warning: you might experience continual thoughts of this dish, making you salivate and wake up at 2am for a quick snack. Also, your significant other might not be able to stop singing your praises. In addition, you might just fight with said significant other over the last zucchini and if you aren't mature, you'll rock-paper-scissors for the win.