This is a great dish for this time of year. It’s filling, but it feels light like a summer meal should. I love hot Italian turkey sausage, it gives this a nice kick, and the spice is balanced really well by the creamy feta and juicy zucchini. I also added sun-dried tomatoes because I thought they would blend well with the other ingredients and I think they were great. I originally made the recipe with less cheese than I’m recommending below (half, actually). It was delicious but I kept thinking it could use more feta, so I suggest using the full ½ cup. This meal is also great for those days you feel a little carb-heavy – this’ll get you back on track!
Sausage-Stuffed Baked Zucchini
Source: adapted from Handle the HeatIngredients:
4 medium zucchini
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 lb hot Italian lean turkey sausage, casings removed
1/2 c crumbled feta cheese
2 T pine nuts
2 T chopped sun-dried tomatoes, packaged in a bag, such as Bella Sun Luci (I used their Julienne Cut - no need to re-hydrate!)
2 T chopped scallions
pinch dried oregano
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper, or lightly mist it with cooking spray.
2. Slice each zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop out the center of each zucchini forming a “boat” shape, leaving about ¼” thick around the edges. Sprinkle zucchini with salt and pepper and transfer it, hollow side up, to the prepared baking sheet. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, cook the sausage over med-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon until it is cooked through. In a large bowl, mix the feta, pine nuts, tomatoes, scallions, oregano and sausage and stir until combined. Spoon the mixture evenly into the zucchini “boats” and place in the oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cheese is slightly melted and zucchini is cooked through.
Yields 4 (2 stuffed zucchini halves) servings. Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information per serving from myfitnesspal.com: 192 calories, 10 g carbs, 11 g fat, 15 g protein, 3 g fiber
This sounds SO filling and delicious. I can't wait to try it. :3
ReplyDeleteEmily, do you rehydrate the sun dried tomatoes before chopping? cooking? Or do you leave it dry?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I should have been more specific about the brand I used! I actually always use the Bella San Luci sun-dried tomatoes (see above, I added a link to the recipe) which are great because they're not packed in oil or anything but they don't need to be hydrated for use. My grocery store sells them near the salad toppings and in the produce section.
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good! I recently tried a dish that had zucchini, sausage, laughing cow cheese and bread cubes (like for stuffing), but there was too much bread in it for my tastes. I'm definitely going to try this for dinner this week!
ReplyDeleteYou've done it again, Emily! This is very tasty & quite filling. The serving size is very generous - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete