Comments on: Giant Stuffed Zucchini

By: Wendy

Wendy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:44:12 +0000

So, I tried making this with an eggplant, and it turned out great! I found th longest eggplant I could find. It was about 1 1/2 lbs. I sliced it lengthwise and cut out some of the meat, (which I used in a stir-fry with bok choy and mushrooms)leaving about 1/2 – 3/4 inch thick boat-like shape. I filled it with the stuffing from this recipe. Then I placed it in an aluminum baking tray which I placed on a cookie sheet for strength. I added about 1/2 cup of water to the aluminum tray, (because eggplant isn’t as watery as zucchini, I was afraid it would turn out dry if I didn’t do this). Then I loosely covered the eggplant with parchment and then tin foil. I baked it at 375 for 45 minutes then removed the coverings and baked an additional 15 minutes to get a kind of crispy top on the filling. It was excellent, cooked just right.

By: roni

roni — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:48:02 +0000

Interesting idea! I think you would have to bake it longer. If you try it let me know how it turns out!

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:55:28 +0000

I’ve made it twice and really liked it. Since my hubby is not an adventurous eater, he won’t even try it ;o(( So last time I made it I divided it into serving sizes and wrapped each in saran and then tin foil and froze them, then whenever I wanted it for dinner I just reheated them from frozen re- wrapped in just the tinfoil. Lately I have had a craving for this, but have been unable to find zucchini large enough to stuff. I have tried 3 or 4 medium sized zucchini and it works very well. But all that is in the store right now are zucchini that are about the size of a dill pickle, which is way too small. Do you suppose this recipe would work with eggplant?? Maybe I would just have to bake it a little longer??

By: Wendy

Wendy — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:52:16 +0000

Last year a friend of my daughter-in-law was trying to get rid of giant zucchinis and plunked one on my door step. As there is only me and my veggie hater hubby at home it sat in the fridge for about a week until I got around to looking for a recipe to use it before it became non-edible. That’s how I discovered your website. I absolutely love this site. This recipe was so awesome. I ate it 4 nights in a row (hubby wouldn’t even try. Oh well, his loss). I could’ve eaten for a week straight and never tired of it. I can’t wait till zucchini season this year.

By: robin

robin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:40:13 +0000

Made this tonight and cannot keep my spoon out of the leftovers that I can’t fit in the Zuke!! It is wonderful!! I may use the leftovers to spoon into my sweet banana peppers and freeze. It is soooo good!

By: Mme_Libn

Mme_Libn — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:58:24 +0000

I wanted to thank you – this turned out great! It’s a definite keeper.

I made one variation to the recipe, since I don’t have a dishwasher and try to keep bowls, pots, and pans to a minimum – I used a small bowl to combine the tomato paste/oatmeal/cheese mixture, then added that to the pan with the ground turkey mixture, once it was off the heat.

OK, one more variation. Since my local grocery store sells ground turkey in a 20 oz. package, I thought, why not cook up the whole thing? I put as much as would fit into the zucchini. The rest made wonderful leftovers – similar to what my mother used to call “hamburger gravy” when we were growing up. Since this already had ground turkey and seasonings, just a little added broth made for a nice gravy atop toast or mashed potatoes – one of my favorite comfort foods.

Again, I will definitely be returning to this recipe. Thanks.

By: roni

roni — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:25:56 +0000

Jan- Glad you tried it! I actually liked the zucchini a bit firm (I guess you can kind of tell by the photo!) so I can see the extra cooking that is needed. Last time I made it I cooked it a bit longer and I did like the bottom as well. I think wrapping it in alum foil is genius!

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:49:27 +0000

okay… I had a good sized zucchini… maybe a 6 month embryo, not a full-blown child.

I wanted to make it with what I had on hand, since a trip to the store is a 30 minute jaunt, not counting shopping time.

I used ground pork and added a little Italian seasoning (to make it taste like sausage)… I had spinach in the garden….

Anyway, it turned out really good, and dh (dear husband) said I should make it again. Took longer to cook, which is weird, because my zucchini was only about 10-12 inches long…. I went 10 mins longer, then upped the temp to 400 and went 12-15 more. The bottom was EXcellent, the top and sides, pretty al-dente.

I think next time I will wrap it in foil, and open for the last 10-15 mins. The bottom was amazing. Serving was a disaster. 1st 2 slices were beautiful (on his plate….) mine looked like rattatoui (sp?) but tasted good.

Thank you again for something to do with zucchini that is delicious and doesn’t involve canning or freezing!

:) Jan

By: arielel

arielel — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:19:50 +0000

This is a great idea! I have a zucchini baby in my fridge right now.

By: roni

roni — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:17:28 +0000

I’m SO glad you liked it! Points will probably be very similar. Lean ground turkey and lean ground beef are both about 1 point an ounce.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:21:21 +0000

This was SOOOOO GOOOODDD. I didn’t have as large as a zucchini as you did, since I bought it from the Farmer’s Market, so we halved it, and scooped out the insides to make two “boats”. I also used Trader Joe’s “94/6 Lean Ground Beef” which had better nutritionals than the Lean Turkey they had on hand. Not sure how it compares with your points calculations, but it seemed pretty reasonable.

Thank you for sharing this, my husband and I both loved it.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:19:26 +0000

No pressure, my dear. I’ve made tons of your recipes and with great success…it’s just that this one was a challenge, since I don’t have a garden, and couldn’t find any HUGE zucchini until now!

I know I’ll like it, I haven’t been disappointed yet!