Cheesy Stuffed Zucchini with Chipotle Panko

Hookay soo… I totally had another post that was supposed to go up today but I had to bump it after I lost my mind over these zucchini boats. Granted, there wasn’t much left of it to lose at this point, but bear with me here!

We’ve been popping cookies over here (until New Years Eve, then we pop bottles! Woot!) and need to cancel out the sweet stuff with a little veggie TLC. Something tells me you’re probably in the same boat. No worries, we shall hop in a zucchini boat and sail away into the sunset! Or just eat them. I think we should eat them.

But first, we stuff them!

• 3 medium zucchini squash
• 1 tsp olive oil plus a little extra if needed
• ¼ cup diced/minced onion
• ¼ cup zuke filling (taken from zucchini above)
• 1 large clove garlic smashed and minced
• ½ cup chipotle-seasoned panko (Italian-style works too!)
• ½ TBSP parsley
• a pinch of salt
• 3-4 oz pepper jack cheese, grated

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Slice zucchini in half lengthwise and remove stem.
3. Bring a medium-large pot of water to boil with enough water to cover your zucchini. (don’t add them yet)
4. Once water is boiling, add zucchini slices and boil for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and drain.
6. Use a mellon baller, spoon, or knife to scoop the inside of the zucchini out (potato-skin style!) leaving maybe ¼ inch or so to maintain shape.
7. Place filling on a cutting board, chop/mince and measure out ¼ cup to use later.
8. Place zucchini slices face down on a few layers of paper towels to help drain any extra moisture (no mushy veggies here!) you may also salt them to help the process along if desired.
9. In a skillet (or you can use the same pot as before!) bring olive oil to medium-high heat and add ¼ cup onion and ¼ cup zucchini filling.
10. Saute until onion is tender and translucent, then add garlic, panko, parsley, salt, and a little more olive oil if mixture seems dry.
11. Cook for just a few more minutes, remove from heat, and set aside.
12. Place zucchini on a greased or non-stick lipped baking sheet or inside your favorite baking dish.
13. Line with grated pepper jack cheese (a mexican blend of cheeses would work great too!) and then top with stuffing.
14. Bake uncovered at 350 F for 15-20 minutes or until the panko is crispy and the zucchini is perfectly tender. Mine were perfect at 15, I like the zukes a little al dente so I can pick them up and eat them like a slice of pizza! I’m classy like that.
15. Enjoy!

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