A vegetable appetizer complemented with meat will always come in handy at any table. Zucchini boats with minced meat are a dish made from affordable ingredients that are easy to prepare and look unusual.
Add your favorite spices to the minced meat, dilute the filling with other vegetables, or make a cheese crust. The zucchini base fits well with any culinary fantasy.
The minced meat itself can be anything. If you want to create a lighter version of the dish, then choose minced chicken.
Stuffed zucchini boats with minced meat can be an excellent solution for dietary nutrition.
Zucchini boats with minced meat in the oven
With the onset of summer, the season for preparing vegetable dishes begins. One of the first to appear in our garden beds is zucchini, so today we will prepare a nutritious and tasty snack from it.
Ingredients:
- 750 g of young zucchini;
- 320 g minced meat;
- 110 g onions;
- two garlic cloves;
- 85 g hard cheese;
- spices, oil, herbs.
Cooking method:
- First of all, we will make boats from zucchini. Everything is simple here, cut the vegetables lengthwise and remove the core from each half with a spoon, leaving a little pulp around the edges.
- Now grease the vegetable preparations with oil and place them on a baking sheet, skin side up, and put them in the oven for 15 minutes (temperature 180°C).
- At this time, prepare the filling, sauté finely chopped onion and garlic in hot oil, and as soon as the vegetables become soft, add chopped zucchini pulp to them and simmer for five minutes.
- Transfer the vegetable mixture to a bowl, replace it with minced meat and fry for ten minutes.
- Now we combine the vegetables with meat, chopped herbs, grated cheese (leave a little for sprinkling) and spices.
- Sprinkle the lightly baked boats with salt, fill them with filling and place in the oven for 40 minutes (temperature 180°C). A couple of minutes before it’s ready, sprinkle the appetizer with cheese.
Zucchini stuffed with vegetables, baked in the oven
This recipe for making boat squash is relevant not only in the summer season, when all vegetables are in abundance. Now, even in winter, these products are on the shelves in stores. It will especially please vegetarians and people on a diet.
But I think everyone will like it. You can use a variety of vegetables to stuff zucchini, but do not forget to add breadcrumbs to the minced vegetables to enhance the taste.
Ingredients
- 3 young zucchini
- 1-2 carrots
- 1 onion
- green onions
- bunch of parsley
- breadcrumbs 3-4 tbsp. spoons
- 2 cloves garlic
- vegetable oil 2-3 tbsp. spoons
- salt
- ground black pepper
- lemon juice
- seasonings to taste (khmeli-suneli)
Preparation
1. Choose zucchini 25-30 centimeters long. Rinse, trim the ends, cut lengthwise into 2 equal parts.
2. Boil water in a saucepan, add a teaspoon of salt. Place the zucchini halves in boiling water and blanch for about 5 minutes. Take it out and let it cool.
3. Finely chop the onion and two cloves of garlic. Three carrots on a fine grater. Chop a bunch of parsley and green onions.
4. Mix the chopped vegetables in a bowl, add breadcrumbs, mix well.
5. From the cooled zucchini, use a spoon to remove the core pulp and chop it.
6. Add the chopped pulp to the vegetables, salt, pepper and sprinkle with a spoonful of hops-suneli seasoning.
7. Cover the baking sheet with foil, lay out the boats and fill them with prepared minced vegetables.
8. Lightly sprinkle each portion with vegetable oil and lemon juice.
9. Bake the zucchini in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.
Zucchini boats with minced chicken and mushrooms
To fill vegetable boats, you can use not only meat, but also mushrooms, but it is better to combine the ingredients and prepare a fragrant and tasty appetizer.
Ingredients:
- two young zucchini;
- poultry breast;
- one onion and one carrot each;
- 320 g champignons;
- fleshy fruit of sweet pepper;
- two small tomatoes;
- 185 g hard cheese.
Cooking method:
- We make boats from zucchini (see recipe above). For the filling, you can take ready-made minced chicken, but it is better to buy a breast and chop it finely with a knife or blender.
- Grate three carrots, finely chop the onion, cut mushrooms, tomatoes and peppers into small pieces.
- Place the chopped vegetables and minced meat in a frying pan with oil, season with spices and simmer until all the ingredients are soft.
- Fill the boats with the filling, sprinkle with cheese and bake the appetizer of zucchini with chicken and mushrooms for 25 minutes (temperature 180°C).
Recipe with vegetables and cheese
This complete dish is perfect for a family dinner.
- zucchini - 3 fruits;
- onion – 1 large head;
- carrots – 2 pcs.;
- bell pepper – 2 pcs. (multi-colored);
- minced meat – 300 g;
- garlic – 2 cloves;
- hard cheese - 100 gram piece;
- tomatoes – 2 pcs.;
- dill - a bunch;
- salt, pepper and oil.
In some cases, boiled rice or bulgur is also added to the filling for satiety.
Sequencing:
- Prepare the zucchini by cutting them and removing the pulp (reserve some). Lubricate the inside with oil. Place the pieces on a baking sheet, cut side down, and bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. Chop the onion with garlic and pepper, grate the carrots and fry. Chop some of the remaining pulp and add to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes. Place the vegetable mixture in a separate container.
- Grate the cheese, chop the dill, cut the tomatoes into slices.
- In the same pan, fry the minced meat. Combine it with the vegetable mass, half the cheese shavings, and dill. Salt and pepper.
- Place the half-baked pieces on a baking sheet, fill with filling, and decorate with tomato slices on top. Season to taste.
- Bake for about half an hour.
Remove, sprinkle with remaining cheese and return to the oven to brown.
Turkey option
Turkey is a dietary product, which means we will prepare a low-calorie and healthy snack. No mayonnaise, no deep frying, just the right ingredients.
Ingredients:
- two young zucchini;
- 220 g turkey (fillet);
- 155 g Greek yogurt;
- 45 g cheese;
- dill, spices.
Cooking method:
- As in previous recipes, we make zucchini boats, do not forget to keep them in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Cut the turkey fillet into small pieces or blend in a blender. Mix the resulting mass with chopped dill and spices.
- You can simmer the minced meat a little by adding a spoonful of oil and a few tablespoons of water.
- Fill the boats with minced meat, pour yogurt on top and place in the oven for 30 minutes (temperature 180°C).
- Then sprinkle the boats with cheese and bake for another ten minutes.
Preparation
We wash the zucchini with a hard washcloth so that the skin is absolutely clean. Cut lengthwise into two equal halves. Use a spoon to scrape out part of the pulp that contains the seeds (do not throw away the pulp, it will go into the filling). The walls of the “boats” should be no more than 1 cm thick, but it is important to keep them intact so that the filling does not leak out.
Grease the zucchini halves prepared in this way with vegetable oil on all sides, sprinkle with salt and ground pepper.
Place the vegetables cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in a preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees. As a result, the vegetables should be slightly baked and become softer. Since we will be starting them with minced meat, it is important that they have time to cook properly on all sides.
At the same time, prepare the filling. Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan, sauté the diced onion and chopped garlic at the same time. As soon as they become soft, add the minced meat and, kneading it with a fork, fry for about 10 minutes until golden brown.
Next, add the diced zucchini pulp to the frying pan (you can’t use all of it, I used half of it), fry for about another 5 minutes. Grind a couple of large tomatoes on a grater (without skin), pour the tomato puree over the meat and vegetables. Add a mixture of Italian herbs, salt, black and red pepper to taste. Simmer everything together over low heat for about 20 minutes until excess moisture is gone. As a result, we should have a very juicy meat filling that smells delicious of herbs and tomatoes.
Fill the zucchini boats with meat filling. Place thinly sliced tomato halves and mozzarella cheese in a checkerboard pattern on top. Sprinkle with dried oregano.
Let the finished dish stand for 5-7 minutes and serve, sprinkled with olive oil and garnished with herbs.
Boats baked with cheese, tomatoes and minced meat
Young and tender zucchini fruits are just asking to be baked with a tasty and appetizing filling. For the recipe, you can use minced meat from any meat, but since this is a summer snack for us, we will take chicken meat.
Ingredients:
- two young zucchini;
- 180 g minced chicken;
- half a white onion and a little green;
- large tomato;
- 115 g cheese;
- Art. spoon of mayonnaise;
- spices.
Cooking method:
- You already know how to make boats out of zucchini, so let’s go straight to the filling.
- Mix the minced meat with chopped white and green onions and spices. The meat can be pre-fried with onions, but the chicken cooks quickly, so you can skip this cooking step.
- Fill the boats with minced meat, grease with mayonnaise, place tomato rings on top of the sauce and put in the oven for 35 minutes, five minutes before ready, sprinkle the boats with cheese shavings.
Boats stuffed with mushroom mince
Zucchini boat with mushrooms is simple, satisfying and tasty.
- zucchini - 3 fruits;
- minced meat – 300 g;
- mushrooms – 300 g;
- cheese - 150 gram piece;
- sour cream with a high fat content - 5 tbsp. l.;
- onion - large head;
- garlic – 2 cloves;
- soy sauce – 2 tbsp. l.;
- pepper and salt, oil.
Cooking process:
- Chop the onion and sauté it. Meanwhile, cut the mushrooms into small slices and add to the pan. Simmer until the liquid evaporates.
- Place minced meat in a frying pan. Fry, pour in soy sauce, add chopped garlic, spices, salt, sour cream. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, grate the cheese.
- Prepare the vegetables and fill them with the still warm filling. Sprinkle generously with cheese.
Bake for approximately ¾ hour. Determine readiness by looking at the zucchini: if they are easily pierced, then the dish is ready.
Zucchini boats with minced meat and rice
As a rule, minced meat and rice are used to prepare stuffed peppers, but today we will use them as a filling for zucchini. Now we will tell you how to cook young zucchini with vegetables, meat and rice.
Ingredients:
- young zucchini;
- 320 g minced pork (low-fat);
- one carrot and one onion;
- two tomatoes;
- 135 g rice grains;
- herbs, spices, oil;
- a piece of cheese (if desired).
Cooking method:
- We make boats from zucchini, we don’t throw away the pulp, we will also use it for filling. The boats can be lightly baked in the oven or placed in boiling salted water for three minutes.
- Boil the rice grains until half cooked, that is, the grains inside should remain firm and soft on the outside.
- Saute the chopped onion in heated oil until transparent, then add the grated carrots to it. As soon as the orange vegetable also becomes soft, add tomatoes chopped in a blender, which can be replaced with tomatoes in their own juice or any tomato sauce.
- After a couple of minutes, add rice grains to the vegetables, and after a few minutes add minced meat and chopped zucchini pulp, season everything with spices, simmer for a couple of minutes and turn off.
- Fill the boats with the filling. You can pour mayonnaise on top, or better yet, make a topping of sour cream and tomato sauce.
- We bake the appetizers for 30 minutes; if desired, you can sprinkle them with cheese and keep them in the oven until the cheese shavings are completely melted.
Bolognese boats
You can make the famous Italian sauce from minced meat. Just make it thicker so that it doesn't evaporate during baking.
Ingredients:
- small zucchini;
- 300 gr. minced pork;
- 1 stalk of celery;
- 1 carrot;
- 1 small onion;
- 1 tomato;
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste;
- black pepper;
- marjoram:
- salt;
- olive oil.
Preparation:
- Chop the celery as finely as possible.
- Chop the tomato.
- Chop the onion into small cubes.
- Grate the carrots.
- Fry the minced meat in oil over high heat. Then turn down the heat. Add tomato paste and vegetables. Pepper, add marjoram, salt. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Cut the zucchini lengthwise into 2 parts. Remove the pulp.
- Fill the zucchini halves with minced meat and vegetables.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 190°C.
