Meat, Tomato, and Mozzarella Stuffed Zucchini Cups
Try this Meat, Tomato, and Mozzarella Stuffed Zucchini Cups recipe
Try this Meat, Tomato, and Mozzarella Stuffed Zucchini Cups recipe
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 large zucchini or yellow squash about 12 inches long
- 2 tsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil (may need more depending on your pan)
- 1 green pepper finely chopped
- 2 t finely minced fresh garlic
- 1 lb. ground beef (10% fat or less)
- 12 oz. ground turkey (10% fat or less)
- (use any combination of ground meat you'd like but use low-fat ground meat for the south beach diet.)
- 1-2 tsp. spike seasoning (optional but recommended)
- 2 c flavorful tomato-basil pasta sauce
- 2 cups low-fat mozzarella or other mild white cheese (i u
- Carbohydrate 7.472 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.08 g
- Fiber 1.36000003814697 g
- Protein 0.88 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0336 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Recipe (534g)
- Sodium 3.2 mg
- Sugar 6.11199996185303 g
- Trans Fat 0.0224 g
- Calories 32 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Chop onion and green pepper. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a non-stick pan, then saute onion and pepper for 3-4 minutes, until just starting to soften. Add minced garlic and saute about 1 minute more, being careful not to brown the garlic. Remove the onion, pepper, and garlic mixture to a bowl.
- Add 2 tsp. more olive oil to the pan. Crumble in the ground beef and ground turkey, season with Spike seasoning, and cook over medium heat until the meat is well browned. Tilt pan to see if there is any extra fat, and remove with a spoon if there is, then stir cooked vegetables and garlic back into the meat. Add tomato sauce and simmer until the mixture has thickened and liquid has cooked off, about 10 minutes, then turn off heat.
- While meat cools, cut zucchini into 2 inch thick slices, discarding ends. Use a sharp spoon or melon baller to hollow out a cup in each zucchini slice, leaving just over 1/4 inch of zucchini flesh. Be careful not to get too close to the skin or the cups will leak liquid when they cook.
- Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray and stand up zucchini cups, open end up. Stir 1 1/2 cups grated cheese into the cooled meat mixture (it doesn't need to be completely cool), then spoon the meat-cheese mixture into zucchini cups, pressing down with the spoon and mounding it up a little over the top of the zucchini.
- Bake zucchini cups for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and use remaining cheese to top each one with a generous pinch of cheese. Put back in oven and bake 10-15 minutes more, until zucchini is slightly soft when pierced with a fork and cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.
Attempting to stuff raw zucchini without leaving a structural perimeter of at least one-quarter inch of flesh guarantees that the walls will collapse or leak moisture during the bake time. Successfully executing this preparation requires specific tools and thermal management to handle dense summer squashes.
- Use a sharp-edged melon baller rather than a standard tablespoon to carve the cavity, because the rounded, rigid rim cleanly shears through squash fibers without bruising the exterior skin.
- Choose a large, heavy-bottomed non-stick skillet for browning the ground meats, ensuring enough thermal mass to develop a deep Maillard reaction on the beef and turkey without scorching the finely minced garlic added later.
- Simmer the meat and tomato-basil sauce mixture over medium-low heat for roughly 10 minutes until excess liquid completely evaporates, preventing a watery filling that would otherwise pool inside the baking sheet.
- Stand the prepared cylinders vertically on a rimmed baking sheet coated with non-stick spray, ensuring stability so the mounded protein mixture stays contained during the initial 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Reserve half a cup of the shredded low-fat mozzarella to apply during the final 10 to 15 minutes of baking, which prevents the dairy solids from burning before the dense outer zucchini walls soften sufficiently under a fork test.
Leftovers stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator will hold their structural integrity for up to three days, though freezing is discouraged because thawed squash releases excess water and turns mushy upon reheating. Reheat individual portions in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes to re-crisp the exterior rather than using a microwave, which softens the zucchini beyond recognition.
