Italian Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

Step 1

In a mixing bowl, combine the parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, minced onion, fennel seed, paprika, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to make an Italian sausage seasoning mix. Add the ground turkey and stir with a fork (or mush with clean hands) to blend the spices evenly into the ground turkey to make turkey sausage.

Step 2

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Step 3

Drizzle the olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan and bring to med-high heat. Add the turkey sausage mixture from step 1 and cook, breaking up into small chunks, for 4-5 minutes until cooked through. Add the pasta sauce to the sausage and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 8-10 minutes*. Sauce will thicken a bit. Stir in the parmesan cheese and cook for another minute until melted.

Step 4

*While the sauce is simmering, Cut the stems off of the zucchinis, along with the little bit at the other end. Slice the zucchinis in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the center of each zucchini half, leaving about ¼” border around the edges to form a boat shape. Sprinkle lightly with salt on the cut sides and place them hollow-side-up on the prepared baking sheet.

Step 5

Spoon the sausage and sauce mixture evenly into the zucchini boats. Top with the shredded Mozzarella cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Switch the oven to broil and broil for 1-2 minutes to brown the cheese a bit (this can happen quickly, keep an eye on it). Serve warm.