Community Corner

Queens Eats: Summer Veggies and Cheese Stuffed Zucchini

Savor the last days of summer with this succulent veggie dish.

This article was written by Erin Walsh.

Even though summer is technically over, I am clinging to the remaining lazy days of summer for as long as humanly possible.

With this in mind, this dish, first cooked for me by my father and courtesy of my hometown paper, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, makes use of seasonal ingredients such as zucchini and red pepper to great effect.

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I cannot rave enough about the succulence of this dish. Serve with kabobs for an easy and satisfying weeknight meal. If you don’t own a grill, simply bake the stuffed zucchini on 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so.

Summer Veggie & Cheese Grilled Zucchini (Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

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Ingredients

2 whole zucchini
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon diced onion
1 tablespoon sweet red bell pepper, thinly diced
1-tablespoon carrot, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ of a lemon
½ cup breadcrumbs
¼ dried or fresh oregano, thyme and basil
1-teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup grated Asiago or Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella

Directions

1. Remove the stem from each zucchini and then cut in half lengthwise. Use a spoon and paring knife to hollow out the center, leaving a one to 1.5 inch edge and one to two inches on the bottom.

2. Dice the zucchini that you remove from the well into ¼ inch pieces.

3. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Lightly sauté the onion, garlic, pepper, carrots and zucchini until soft. Squeeze the lemon over the vegetables and stir.

4. Turn off the heat and fold in the breadcrumbs, herbs, salt and pepper.

5. Allow the mixture to cool for about 15 minutes and then fold in the cheese mixture. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

6. Heat grill to 300 or 350 degrees. Divide the vegetable mixture among the zucchini and top with mozzarella. Place the zucchini on the highest grate of the grill and close lid. Cook for eight to 15 minutes or until the body of the zucchini is soft and cheese is melted and bubbly.


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