Italian Stuffed Zucchini Boats

• servings: 8 servings
• active time: 40 minutes
• total time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

4 medium zucchini, (cleaned, halved length-wise and seeds scooped out.)

Cooking spray

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (+ additional for precooking the zucchini)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (+ additional for precooking the zucchini)

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, (finely diced)

1 medium red bell pepper, (seeded and finely diced)

2-3 cloves garlic, (minced)

1 pound ground turkey

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

3 Tablespoons Romano cheese

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

4 ounces water (1/2 of the empty tomato sauce can)

1 medium tomato, (seeded and finely diced)

1 cup cooked rice

1 cup Mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment or a silicone liner.

Place zucchini halves cut-side up, onto the pan. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 10 minutes and then remove from the oven and set aside.

While the zucchini bakes, heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Add onion and peppers to the pan and saute for around 4 minutes to soften.

Add garlic and saute for 1 minute more.

Add ground turkey and brown, breaking up with a wooden spoon around 3-5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/ teaspoon pepper, Italian seasoning, Romano cheese, sauce, water and diced tomato. Saute for 5-7 minutes.

Add cooked rice and stir to combine, remove from heat.

Divide mixture between each zucchini boat and sprinkle each with mozzarella cheese.

Bake uncovered for 15 more minutes and serve immediately.