Stuffed Zucchini Cups

It’s Zucchini Fest 2011! I have so much zucchini it’s not even funny. Check this beast out:

It’s HUGE!

This giant came from my mom’s garden. This summer her garden is producing a crap load of squash (so you know what we’ve been eating). She told me she had a big one that she was saving for me when I came to visit… Well I had no idea it was THIS big! Holy moley! I named him Monstro… In honor of the whale. 

I decided to make the entire thing in one night. I was so excited to come up with creative ways to cook this thing- So for dinner we had stuffed zucchini cups, zucchini fritters, and finished off with some zucchini bread for dessert! (Check out my next blog post for the zucchini fritters).  And now- the beginning to Zucchini Fest 2011!!

Stuffed Zucchini Cups

But first, some more pictures.. Yeah.. I had a little fun with the thing.

It’s Loaded

The 80’s called, they want their cell phone back

Ingredients:

• 1 GIANT Zucchini (or a couple plain old regular ones)
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 Cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 10 oz Package of frozen spinach
• 1 Leek, finely chopped (husks removed, only use the light green part)
• Smoked paprika, thyme, salt, pepper
• 3 Pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces
• (Bacon!? Can it be? I normally don’t eat or cook or even associate myself with the thing called “bacon”… but my boyfriend really likes it and I was feeling generous. Besides, a little bit every once in a while can’t hurt.) And as it turned out, the bacon made these stuffed zucchini cups really good!

To Do:

– Start by cooking the bacon and setting it aside to cool once it’s done (Or omit this step and make it vegetarian)
– Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
– Cut the large zucchini into large cylinders and hollow out the middle like pictured below. Don’t hollow them out all the way, make sure to leave about 3/4 of an inch left at the bottom.

– Chop up the zucchini insides you just scooped out and toss them into a pan with some olive oil, along with the chopped onion and leek. Cook until soft.
– Meanwhile, mince the garlic and defrost your frozen spinach and add it to a bowl with the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and chopped bacon pieces. Add the cooked onion and leek too.
– Stir everything together, adding seasonings to taste.
– Place your zucchini cups on a cookie sheet, with a light non-stick spray, and fill them up with the stuffing.
– Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops start to brown.
– Eat with a knife and fork. Yum!

Giant stuffed Zucchini cups