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Italian Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini

Source of Recipe

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Italian Sausage-Stuffed Zucchini

Simple & Delicious February/March 2014
7 reviews rate this recipe 4.5 of 5 stars.
Exchanges
Yield: 6 servings.

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. —Donna Marie Ryan, Topsfield, Massachusetts

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 (Japanese) 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

Directions:
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 two 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.

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