Stuffed Zucchini with Lemon Pasta

Stuffed food is fun, is it not?

Stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed anything!

I had lots of zucchini in my fridge and I was trying to decide what to do with it.

I finally decided to stuff the zucchini with a mixture of mushroom, carrots, onions and quinoa.

Here is what you will need to get this dinner party started...

The ingredients:

Quinoa is this fantastic seed (most people think it's a grain, but actually it's a seed) that is highly nutritious, and delicious!

Actually, it's pretty flavorless and will take on whatever flavor you cook with it.

It's a great alternative to rice or cous cous.

In this dish, I cooked the quinoa 'risotto style'. I added it raw to the mushroom mixture and kept adding liquid until it was cooked through.

It was light and fluffy and oh so good.

Here is what the zucchini looks like when they are hollowed out...

Ready to be stuffed!

Stuffed and topped with marinara... mmmmmm.

Fresh out the oven!

All that melty, cheesy deliciousness.

Sooo zexy!

Digging in!

I served it with a lemon and sun dried tomato pasta.

It was the perfect compliment.

It not only tastes good, but looks so pretty on the plate, too!

Here's the smack down on my 'guess'timations:

Zucchini Boats

1/2 cup quinoa

1 to 1 1/2 cup of veggie or chicken stock

1 lb mushrooms

1 small carrot

1 small onion

4 garlic cloves

6-8 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and flesh removed with spoon

1/2 cup grated pecorino romano

marinara sauce, optional spooned over each zucchini half

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Put the onions and garlic in the food processor and pulsed them until just chopped coarsely. Then put them in a hot saute pan on medium heat with olive oil.

Put the flesh of the zucchini and carrots together in the food processor and chopped them finely. Add that to the pan with the onions and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the mushrooms in the food processor and pulse them until they are coarsely chopped and add those to the pan. Saute it all for about 7-9 minutes and taste for seasoning.

Add the quinoa right into the pan and mix it altogether.

Add veggie stock a 1/4 cup at a time.

Keep stirring and adding stock to the pan as the stock gets absorbed by the quinoa (like risotto).

When the quinoa is cooked (takes about 20 minutes to cook), turn the fire off and let the mixture cool.

Make sure you taste for seasoning.

When the mixture is cooled, fill the zucchini boats generously and place in a baking dish that has marinara sauce on the bottom so the zucchini doesn't stick.

Repeat this until all the zucchini boats are filled and placed in the baking dish.

Cover the zucchini boats with more marinara sauce and top it all with mozzarella cheese and pecorino romano.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes on 375 until the zucchini boats are just tender.

Serve with lemon pasta.

Lemon and Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, julienned

1/4-1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup olive oil

Veggie stock, as needed

1/2 - 1 cup Parmesan Reggiano, freshly grated

1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti, cooked and drained

In a large saute pan, melt butter and olive oil together. Add garlic and let cook for 3-5 minutes over medium heat.

Add the sun dried tomatoes and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Add the cooked spaghetti and toss in the sauce. If the pasta is too dry, add more olive oil or veggie stock. Make sure you keep tasting for seasoning to make sure it's perfect.

Toss the pasta in with at least 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese and (if my calculations are at all correct) you should have a delicious and lemony spaghetti that will go perfectly with the zucchini!