This is the time of year when the garden is producing heaps of produce. One of my favorite things is zucchini. Here is a recipe for our family favorite use of this vegetable.
Ingredients
2 medium or 1 large zucchini squash
2 pounds of 80/20 ground beef
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ Tablespoon dried Rosemary (or ¼ up fresh rosemary chopped fine)
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 medium egg
10 Ritz crackers, crumbled coarsely
2 cups Italian Tomato sauce, divided
Italian Seasoning
½ cup cheese of your choice for topping. I usually use mozzarella, parmesan, and cheddar in equal portions.
Instructions
Remove both ends of zucchini
Cut in half
Remove seeds and core
Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and set aside
Mix all seasonings and herbs being sure to combine well.
In a large bowl place meat, seasonings, 1 cup of tomato sauce and egg.
Mix well being sure to get thoroughly incorporated. I like to do this with my hands
Add cracker crumbs and mix again.
Place zucchini halves in baking dish and fill with meat.
Cook in preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with remaining cup of Italian tomato sauce, and then cheese.
Replace in oven and cook an additional 15 minutes to thoroughly melt the cheese.
Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy.
Please note, I am not an expert in food preservation, or pickling, or even homesteading. I am just a woman who loves to put up food to feed my family. These are the steps I followed to make my family favorite zucchini recipe.
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Kate, the Busy Boomer
WOW that looks amazing! I'm going to have to try that. I have one big Zuke sitting in the kitchen right now :)
@daddykirbs Hope you enjoy it. I can bring you a couple more if you like. I have 6 or 7 really big ones.
Looks good. We do that with spaghetti squash, unfortunately this year we have none yet and very few zucchini.
@edthecanadian I love to serve spaghetti squash with a more "traditional" red sauce. Hope you enjoy.
Yum, looks delicious! I just had BBQ'd zucchini for dinner, but nothing this fancy!
@fat-elvis, BBQ zucchini???? How do you do that?
Just cut them about 1" thick. Brush with oil sprinkle some seasoning (I mix up paprika onion powder, garlic powder and salt). Then put them on the grill. Tasty.
@fat-elvis That sounds wonderful. I'll give it a try. Thanks
YUMMY!!! :D