Sausage stuffed zucchini boats
Zucchini halves roasted until tender and filled with saucy sausage and melted mozzarella, a low-carb dinner that still feels like a treat.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $3.00 a serving
- 590 calories
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 zucchini, medium
- 8 oz Italian sausage, casings removed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 tbsp fresh basil, torn (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
Each serving has about 590 calories, 28 g protein, 15 g carbs and 47 g fat, and costs about $3.00 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
the zucchini and scoop out the soft middles with a spoon, leaving a ¼-inch shell. the scooped-out flesh.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dolly’s tip: A small spoon works best. Keep the walls thick enough that the boats don’t collapse.Set the boats cut side up on a , brush them with the oil, sprinkle with salt, and 10 minutes while you make the filling.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 10 min
Cook the sausage in a over medium-high for 5 to 6 minutes, breaking it up, until with no pink left.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Medium-high heatTimer: 6 min
Food safety: Raw pork sausage is done at 160°F and raw chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F. Precooked sausage just needs heating until hot all the way through.
Add the chopped zucchini and garlic and cook 3 minutes, until .
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Stir in the marinara and parmesan and take the pan off the heat.
Medium heat
Spoon the filling into the boats and top with the mozzarella.
12 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and a fork slides easily into the zucchini.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Timer: 13 min
Scatter the basil over the top and serve two halves each.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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Low-carb sausage recipes ›Easy low-carb dinner ideas ›What to make with parmesan and shredded mozzarella ›What to make with zucchini and parmesan ›What to make with Italian sausage and parmesan ›