Supreme Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats (THM S)
Pizza night is easily my favorite night. The kids don't complain. The husband doesn't complain. Imagine my surprise when I traded our usual fathead pizza crust for zucchini, and STILL had a happy crowd. (Angels sang, trust me.)
Believe me when I say how much I love pizza made with fathead dough, but I don't always want my meals to be so calorie-dense. Plus, having a lot of dairy at once can feel really heavy, whereas the zucchini makes your meal lighter (and adds veggies!).
The supreme pizza ingredients I chose were pepperoni, hot Italian sausage, sliced mushrooms, and diced green bell peppers. If you like a different combination - use it! I found this to be very tasty, and I'm sure you will too.
Start by cutting the tops off your zucchini, slicing in half lengthwise, and scooping out the middle/seeds. This is the part of the zucchini that's heavy with water, you want to remove it so that your pizza isn't watery. And, obviously, you need a place for those yummy toppings to go!
It was easy to carve these boats with a mini ice cream scoop. It gave me a nice, round shape, and I could really dig in to the zucchini to create a deep boat.
Next arrange them in your dish. I got the most bang for my buck by alternating the tops and bottoms, like so. [My 9x13 baking dish was perfect for 7-8 zucchini boats.]
Next, salt and pepper your boats, then paint the inside with marinara sauce (store bought or homemade).
Now it's time to pile in the toppings! I did cooked crumbled sausage on the bottom, then mushrooms and bell peppers, a layer of cheese, topped with pepperoni, and piled on more cheese and seasoning.
I like hugging the pepperoni with cheese because 1) it helps the ingredients stick together and 2) I love crispy pepperoni. I used both mozzarella and Romano cheese for the topping, because I like the differing flavors. I also sprinkled the tops with a little dried Italian seasoning, for an extra flavor boost.
Pop the boats into a 375 degree oven, covered with foil, for about 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking (or broil on low, like I did for crispy pepperoni) until the tops are browned and bubbly.
Mmm, look at those beautifully brown tops!
These boats were a fantastic, light and filling dinner. I wanted to add even more green to my plate, so I enjoyed two with a side salad. My kids enjoyed their boats minus the spicy sausage. My husband (zucchini hater extraordinaire) had three. THREE! I almost died of shock.
This meal was so fresh and easy, it almost felt illegal (ha!). I hope your family enjoys these as much as mine!
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