Italian Sausage Zucchini Boats

How does your garden grow? Despite the rain mine has hung on. I am still getting tomatoes, squash and lots of cucumbers. I love it. Everyday I go out with my basket and fill it up. When I have a lot of produce, this is one of the recipes that I love to make. It takes up quite a few of my veggies. I have written this recipe, but I like to substitute anything that I have to change it up. If I have more tomatoes, I use them. Less peppers, that is OK too. Just use what you have. This recipe is not so much about being perfect as it is about celebrating fresh tastes and loving what Mother Earth has provided for you. This recipe is summer in a boat.

Italian Sausage Zucchini Boats

2 8-10 inch zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
1 1/2 cups tomatoes, diced
1 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 cup white onion, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 hot pepper, diced (I used one of my Hungarian hot wax peppers)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb. loose sausage (I used mild.) You can also use ground beef or turkey.
1/4 cup fresh basil leaved, chiffonade
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add both peppers and onion; sauté until softened. Add garlic and sauté another few minutes. Add sausage and break up into the vegetable mixture. Cook until the meat shows no more redness and is slightly browned. Add salt and pepper. At this point, add the tomatoes and basil. Stir into meat mixture. Saute for about 5 min just to meld the flavors.
Scoop the centers out of the zucchini- this should include all of the seeds and a small amount of the flesh. This process makes the "boat."  Place them in a 9 x13 pan with the cut sides facing up. Fill the zucchini cavities with the meat mixture. Heap the mixture up slightly to fill. After they are full of the meat mixture, spoon 4-5 Tbsp. of marinara sauce over the meat mixture of each boat. Sprinkle each boat with about 2 Tbsp. of mozzarella cheese and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 min. After this time take the foil off for 5 min to allow the cheese to get slightly browned. Allow to rest for 5 min before plating.
Enjoy!