Stuffed Zucchini and Bell Peppers

Hearty and Satisfying!

If you like meatloaf and you like stuffed peppers, than you will love this recipe. It is very different from the stuffed peppers that I was brought up eating. My mom used to make stuffed peppers with ground beef (or sometimes ground turkey), onion, garlic, rice and tomato sauce. And of course I followed suit, making them pretty much the same way.

In this recipe you actually make a meatloaf filling and stuff the peppers and zucchini with it. No rice at all. It is really good. The other thing I like about this recipe is that if someone in the family doesn't like peppers, they can eat the stuffed zucchini instead. The only thing I might change the next time I make them is to lightly saute the shallots (or in the original recipe, onion) before adding it to the meat mixture. It had a little bit of a raw bite to it. But other than that, I enjoyed them thoroughly.


Stuffed Zucchini and Bell Peppers
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

1 tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, grated
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 large egg
3 tablespoons ketchup
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup dried seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/4 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
2 zucchini, ends removed, halved lengthwise and crosswise
2 short bell peppers (any color), halved and seeded
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Carefully scrape out the seeds and inner flesh from the zucchini with a melon baller or spoon, leaving 1/8-inch-thick shells, making sure not to cut through the skin.

Lightly drizzle the olive oil into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Whisk the shallot, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt, pepper, cheese and bread crumbs in a large bowl to blend. Mix in the turkey and combine with your hands.

Fill the zucchini and pepper halves with the turkey mixture, dividing equally and mounding slightly. Arrange the stuffed vegetables in the baking dish. Pour the marinara sauce over the stuffed vegetables.

Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown and a thermometer inserted into the filling registers 165 degrees F, about 40-50 minutes. Transfer the stuffed vegetables to a platter and serve.