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Well, summer is coming to a close which means I am up to my eyeballs in fresh zucchini. In an attempt to eat a little healthier and lower my carb intake, I created this handy dandy little 20-minute dinner. Seriously! Only 20 minutes from start to finish. And, I used up my extra large garden zucchini. If you don’t have access to any jumbo zucchinis or friend’s with gardens full of them, pick up some small ones from the store. About 1 per person, or in my husband’s case, 2.
To road map this recipe for you, I sliced my huge zucchini down the center and then in half again. I scooped out the seeds so I was left with 4 skinny zucchini boats–perfect for fillings! Before I filled them, I cooked them in a skillet 5 minutes per side, covered; this gives them a little needed flavor and color. I cooked them enough to be crisp-tender–how I like it. (See recipe tips for softer zucchinis) Then I filled them up with loads of pizza toppings and stuck them under the broiler! Thats it! I did happen to have some cherry tomatoes from my garden around too, so I made a little tomato basil mix for the top. So simple, and so good. It’s like the taste of summer in your mouth. I loved these and so did my husband. My daughter just ate all the cheese off the top! 🙂
Hope you all are enjoying these last few days of Summer before we’re into Fall! (PS- I’ve got some GREAT pumpkin recipes that I’m dying to share with you so fall can’t get here fast enough!)
Zucchini Pizza Boats
Ingredients
- 2 extra large zucchini from the garden or 4-6 small
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove crushed
- salt and pepper
- 2/3 cup pizza sauce
- 1/2 cup sliced pepperoni
- 4 slices deli ham julienned
- 1/2 green bell pepper sliced
- 1/4 onion sliced thin
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- any other pizza toppings you'd like
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 10 fresh basil leaves torn, if desired salt pepper
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat skillet over medium heat with olive oil and garlic. Slice ends off of zucchini and slice down the center lengthwise. Scoop all the seeds out so you are left with a skinny boat shape, about 1/3-1/2 inch thick. (*If you are using large zucchinis, slice in half, this time width-wise so you have 4 'boats' per zucchini. If you are using small zucchinis from the store, you can forgo this step.)
- Sprinkle salt and pepper over prepared zucchinis. Remove garlic from pan. Place zucchinis cut side down in pan and cover.
- Cook 5 minutes and turn. Edges should be brown. Cover and cook another 5 minutes. Transfer cooked zucchini to a sheet pan.
- Fill with pizza sauce, desired toppings and cheese. Sprinkle with oregano. Bake under the broiler until cheese has browned. Remove from oven.
- In small bowl, combine tomatoes with basil, salt and pepper. Top cooked pizza stuffed zucchinis with tomato mixture, if desired.
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What did you do with the garlic?
Preheat skillet over medium heat with olive oil and garlic.
I had doubts about how good this would be and whether or not my family of picky eaters would enjoy it. I’m so glad I decided to go ahead and try it since I had some fresh zucchini from the garden. I actually heard “I would pick this over real pizza any day.” from across the table. This recipe was so easy to make (almost no clean up involved) and very delicious. We will definitely be making this again and again. Thanks!
This looks absolutely amazing!
I seriously drooled when I saw this post!!! Looks wonderful.