This recipe, while not difficult, involves a lot of steps. It is much faster and easier if you already have tomato sauce made. We only need 1/2 cup for this recipe. I used ground turkey, but chicken, beef or pork can be used if desired. You could even use beans or legumes instead of animal protein if you wanted to go vegetarian. Have fun trying different variations of this recipe!
Set aside ½ Cup of tomato sauce.
Set oven to 400 degrees
Cut the ends off of a large zucchini. Trim until you have a weight of 15oz.
Slice the zucchini long ways through the middle.
Using a paring knife and spoon, hollow out the middle of each half of the zucchinis. Save the insides in a bowl, we will use them later. The zucchinis should look like two canoes.
Place zucchini on a foil lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake for 25 minutes.
Take 4oz. by weight of cottage cheese and put into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Top with a folded paper towel and place a can or bottle on top to squeeze out any extra liquid from the cheese.
Set cheese aside and let it drain for at least 10 minutes.
Chop up the zucchini that you removed from the centers,
Place a skillet over medium heat and add 3 teaspoons of olive oil.
When hot, brown the ground meat until cooked through.
Add chopped zucchini and 1 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning.
Cook for 5 minutes and add the cooked rice.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside
Remove zucchini from the oven.
Carefully stuff zucchinis in this order: First add ground meat mixture. Then divide cheese in half and add each half to the zucchini. Last, pour half of the tomato sauce over each zucchini boat.
Replace in the same oven and bake for another 25 minutes. Zucchini is done when a fork gently goes though it.
Top with shredded basil (optional)
This recipe makes 2 servings
Count each serving as: 1 protein- 2 veggies- 1 fat - 1 starch
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