June | 2012 | awalkinmyflipflopsdotcom

A friend and I went to our local (Pasco) farmers market this last weekend. We came across 8-ball zucchini. They were so cute and the perfect shape for stuffing, so I had to get some. I started with a recipe my mom had used in the past, and then modified it into kind of a “just throw stuff in” recipe. 🙂 I also changed the ground beef it called for, to ground turkey, to cut the fat in half. (Don’t worry, the cheese and sour cream make up for it LOL). I didn’t really measure anything either, so I’ll do my best to estimate the measurements for you, but just add to taste as you go. Here’s what I ended up using

Ingredients –

4-6 8-ball (round) zucchini

1 lb ground turkey,

1 medium onion, chopped

Cumin (approx. ½ tsp)

Cayenne (approx. ½ tsp)

Onion powder (approx. 1 tsp)

Sour cream (approx. ½ C)

Spinach leaves, chopped (approx. ½ C)

Sharp (yellow or white, I used yellow) Cheddar cheese, shredded (approx. 1 ½ C)

Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (approx. ½ C)

Chicken flavored (dry) stove top stuffing (approx. 1 C)

Salt & Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400. Slice off just the top of the zucchini (and toss tops). Carefully hollow out the zucchini (kinda like carving a pumpkin), but leave about a ¼ inch of the zucchini intact around the inside. (I’m not sure how to really describe that, so I hope that makes sense to you!).

Chop the “guts” that you removed and set aside to combine with your filling mixture. Lightly brush cooking oil (any kind) on the inside of the zucchini, and place upside down on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 15 min until softened). (Turn them over when done, and let them cool a little. Turn the oven down to 350.

In the meantime, in a skillet, brown your ground turkey (salt and pepper it while cooking), and add the onion and zucchini guts. Let that cook together for several min, then remove from heat. In a bowl, mix the ground turkey mixture, with all the other ingredients, reserving ½ C of the shredded cheddar to top with. Again, adjust the spices to taste as you go.

Once you have the taste you want, use a spoon to add the mixture to your hollowed out zucchini. Fill them to the top. Sprinkle with sharp cheddar cheese. Bake them at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese on top is bubbly and melty.