Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats – Italian Style

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats

I’m slowly eliminating some foods from my diet, I have some theories that my body doesn’t like certain foods and I’m taking control and trying a few things. One of the things I’m slowly taking away is wheat products, which sadly means that (for now) pasta is out of the question.

I’m a little sad to take away this comfort food, so maybe that means that it’s a good thing it’s gone, especially since one serving is never enough (who actually only just eats 3/4 cup – 1 cup of pasta?).

I’m usually okay, when I make my kick ass spaghetti sauce I make it with spaghetti squash and I seriously can not tell the difference.

Something that I have been wanting to try for a while are the cute zucchini boats I’ve been seeing around Pinterest, the only problem is I don’t like zucchini. I like it shredded in baking and that’s about it. I still add it to vegetable scrambles from time to time, but that requires me to choke it down fast. So when my in-laws handed me a bunch of zucchini I thought it would be the perfect time to give these boats a try.

At first I was planning on making some sort of southwestern inspired dish from the zucchini boats, like my Texas Turkey Spaghetti Squash Bake, but I was planning on having some wine and wine makes me crave my spaghetti sauce. Which is why I called this “Italian style” or “Italian Inspired”, I was told before that this sauce is more of a “gravy” but I call it spaghetti sauce.

How to hollow out a zucchini

Hollowing out the zucchini was really easy, I just used the “1 perfect cup of tea” spoon I have (from back in my days of selling Steeped Tea). However, any spoon will work (preferably a metal teaspoon). You don’t want to take all the flesh, just enough to fill, you want it to still have strong support.

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats
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5 from 1 vote

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats

These Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats are healthy and delicious!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword stuffed zucchini boats, turkey, zucchini
Servings 6 people
Calories 390kcal

Ingredients

  • 3 Zucchini split length wise
  • 2 cups Spaghetti sauce made ahead of time: recipe below
  • Parmesan and part skim mozzarella optional
  • For The Sauce:
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1 green bell pepper diced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup white wine beef broth works too
  • 1 can 28 oz crushed tomatoes
  • 1/2 can tomato paste 4 oz can
  • 1 jar marinara sauce I like Safeway O Organics
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp crushed red pepper start small and increase the heat by taste
  • 2 tbsp dried parsley
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 375F.
  • Scoop out the middle of the zucchini.
  • Ladle the spaghetti sauce in the zucchini boats.
  • Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Add cheese (optional) and bake for another ten minutes, or until bubbly and delicious. (For this recipe I used 2 tbsp of Parmesan Cheese for me (hubby added part skim mozza after).
  • Directions for the sauce:
  • In a large pot, over medium heat, cook up the ground turkey. Drain the meat and set aside.
  • Heat up the olive oil , add the onion, green pepper. Saute until the onion is soft (about 4-5 minutes) and then add the garlic. Give it a good stir for another minute or two (until fragrant).
  • Add the wine (this time I used Pinot Grigio, but I have used almost every other white and have had great results each time) and reduce for about four minutes.
  • Add the crushed tomatoes, paste, jar of marinara, oregano, thyme, sugar, bay leaves, crushed pepper flakes, and salt. I usually stir this together and let simmer a few minutes.
  • Add the meat. Stir and put a lid on.
  • Let this simmer on low - medium/low for at least an hour. The longer, the better.
  • After your hour is up, add the parmesan cheese and parsley. Stir and simmer for another thirty minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 2180mg | Potassium: 1635mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1851IU | Vitamin C: 61mg | Calcium: 483mg | Iron: 5mg
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Note: don’t eat the bay leaves from the spaghetti sauce – toss them.

Have you ever made zucchini boats before?

Italian Inspired Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats

7 comments on “Turkey Stuffed Zucchini Boats – Italian Style”

  1. Ooooh, these look really good. I have a lot of friends who are trying to eliminate wheat/gluten from their diets, so I’ll have to share these. 🙂 My hubby is actually also trying to cut back carbs and eat more veggies to lose weight, so I should try this at home. It might be a good solution for us. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  2. Wow this looks deliciously healthy, I would love to try the recipe.

  3. This looks so delicious! I will definitely try your recipe!

  4. Ummm, I need these in my life, like NOW! I LOVE zucchini! How innovative! I need to get better at stuffed dishes for sure, thanks for giving me a reason to!

  5. I have a huge zucchini in my fridge right now! these look interesting!

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