Italian Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini

Dinner

I've always had to be creative when getting my family to eat vegetables, so I decided to make stuffed zucchini using the pizza flavors that everyone loves. It worked! We like to include sausage for a main dish but it could be a meatless side dish, too.

Average Rating: 4.454545

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 35 min. Bake: 20 min.
YIELD: 6 servings.

Ingredients

6 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces each)
1 pound Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Additional minced fresh parsley, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each zucchini lengthwise in half. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell; chop pulp. Place zucchini shells in a large microwave-safe dish. In batches, microwave, covered, on high 2-3 minutes or until crisp-tender.
2. In a large skillet, cook sausage and zucchini pulp over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink, breaking sausage into crumbles; drain. Stir in tomatoes, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, herbs and pepper. Spoon into zucchini shells.
3. Place in 2 ungreased 13x9-in. baking dishes. Bake, covered, 15-20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5-8 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. If desired, sprinkle with additional minced parsley.

Nutrition Facts

2 stuffed zucchini halves: 206 calories, 9g fat (3g saturated fat), 39mg cholesterol, 485mg sodium, 16g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 3g fiber), 17g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges:
2 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 1/2 starch.