Wednesday, August 10, 2011

The Giant Zucchini Dilemma



Every morning, as I enter my vegetable garden and gather tomatoes, beans, okra, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini, I search through the foliage to find the ripened ones to pick. Once in a while I miss a zucchini or squash because it has grown, unbeknownst to me, under the stem or so close to it that it is well-camouflaged. One such zucchini escaped my picking for quite a while to grow to about a foot long before I finally saw it bulging from beneath the zucchini plant stem.



I try to pick my zucchini when it is small because the flavor and texture is so much better, however this one hid from view. When this happens, I know there will be lots of unappetizing seeds in the center of the zucchini, so I scoop them out.




This zucchini will be stuffed and baked.


Stuffed Zucchini

1 large zucchini, halved
½ cup zucchini, chopped
½ cup tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
½ cup panko crumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Scoop out seeds from zucchini halves. Bake halves on lightly greased pan for 30 to 35 minutes.

In the meantime, saute zucchini, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and garlic until soft.




Transfer to mixing bowl. Add panko crumbs and Parmesan cheese and mix.




Add mixture to baked zucchini halves.




Bake stuffed zucchini for 30 to 35 minutes or until zucchini halves are tender.




Note:  The amount of ingredients may vary depending on the size of the zucchini.


©Michelle A. Potter

45 comments:

  1. One to try as I'm bound to have some escapees too!

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  2. I am a Zucchini lover and your baked looks wonderful. I will indeed make it!
    Thanks so much for your visit today and your bio said your a Master Gardener so you must keep many seeds from your garden. I found saved from our dried flowers and veggies work so much better than the packets....
    Very nice Blog
    Sandy

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  3. Thanks for your yummy recipe!

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  4. So yummy! I always learn new thing by reading your blog. Thanks for sharing;)

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  5. Your recipe sounds delicious, definitely one to try, looks delicious too.

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  6. That looks delicious! Thanks for the recipe.

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  7. The stuffed zucchini looks mighty yummy. A simple summer recipe with fresh ingredients, what more could you ask for.

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  8. I usually give my overgrown ones to a friend who likes them stuffed - but after seeing your recipe, I may well keep the next one for myself.

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  9. Mmmm... Looks so good, I am trying it today. Thank you for sharing.

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  10. How lucky you are to have zucchini! I have four plants. Fool that I am, I plant zucchini every year. I never get a single one.

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  11. What a great idea! Yes I have come across those Goodyear blimp zuchini, impossibly hidden. Now I must let one go giant so I can try the recipe!

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  12. I debated and debated what to do with two huge zucchinis. The compost bin won out. I couldn't face trying to use them. I much prefer the small ones. Well, the zucchinis are done for another year so I'll see how my freezing zucchini spears works this winter.

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  13. Great idea, sounds good. Will have to try it. I only got 1 zucchini this yr.

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  14. That is a great idea! The classic veggie dilemma, though I do not have room in my tiny potager for this leggy plant and have not yet made the jump to adding it to the ornamentals. But they are plentiful at market!

    Thanks for the recipe!
    Julie

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  15. Thank you, thank you! I am running out of ideas, so I'll try yours, I have quite a large one on my counter right now. I try to pick mine when it's small too, but you know how that goes... This sounds really easy, I just have to pick up some panko crumbs. I'm harvesting "black beauty" variety, and the big ones haven't been too bad, not too seedy, but they have a kind of ruffled effect, like they're wearing a tiered skirt..

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  16. Great idea! It looks pretty good, even though I'm a little tired of zucchini. But I think I'll try the "stuffed" method.

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  17. Ah yes, the giant zucchini invasion, I know it well... They are also good grated and made into zucchini cake (like carrot cake only with zucchini),or savoury muffins. But once I started growing yellow-skinned zucchinis, I didn't miss so many small ones on the plant. They are prettier, too.

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  18. Beautiful presentation of the entree. It looks delicious!

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  19. Yum!! My mom grew zuchini the size of Louisville Sluggers. By the time she picked them, they were barely edible. We should have started the Zuchini Baseball League instead. :o)

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  20. Oh yum I love stuffed zucchini. They can be monsters can't they!

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  21. @Sandy Thanks, Sandy. I try to save some seeds. They are better because I know that variety works in my garden. Thanks for visiting.

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  22. @Pauline Thanks, Pauline, it turned out to be very tasty.

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  23. @linniew LOL! I am sure one will hide for you without much prompting.

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  24. @Marcia I also much prefer the small ones. Maybe I need to take some magic pill to get x-ray eyes and catch those hidden ones before they grow too large.

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  25. @Wife, Mother, Gardener You're welcome, Julie. They do take up quite a bit of room.

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  26. @Lazy Composter I have tried the black beauty variety...they are very good. Enjoy the recipe!

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  27. @PlantPostings I do a lot of freezing because I also get tired of them.

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  28. @Lyn I have a friend who uses them in a carrot cake. I will have to try that...yummy!

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  29. @Casa Mariposa LOL! They can get really big. It is surprising how big they can get.

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  30. @Mrs Bok - The Bok Flock Yes, they can. So far, none have gotten away from me.

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  31. @gardenwalkgardentalk.com It turned out really well despite the blimp of a zucchini that tried to hide from me. :)

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  32. I am in awe! These recipes are off the chart. Your baked zucchini looks like it came off the cover of Bon Appetit.

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  33. We will hopefully harvest 30 zucchini this year and I have been wondering how we will be able to eat it every night for a month! I'm so glad you posted this recipe. I love fried zucchini, but as much as I love it... hard to eat every night. Thanks!

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  34. @Shannon Marie Wow...that is a lot of zucchini. I am glad this helped give you a bit of zucchini variety. You can also freeze it for fall and winter soups, etc.

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  35. That looks like an amazing recipe! I am definitely going to try it. I have also posted a giant zucchini recipe on my blog.It is always quite a shock when I discover one of these giant zukes in my garden. Your photographs are amazing!

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'I see trees of green, red roses, too
I see 'em bloom for me and for you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world'
--What a Wonderful World

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