Stuffed Zucchini

I owe this great idea of a recipe to my brother-in-law, Jared. He served this to us at a family function a while back and I logged it away as a GREAT way to use up HUGE zucchinis. You know, the kind of zucchinis you forget to pick and suddenly they are bigger than a small child! The kind you leave on your neighbor's doorstep and then run. I'm just kidding. We haven't done that...yet. ;) But now here's another way to use them up! It only takes a couple of simple ingredients, a little bit of prep, and then you let the oven do the rest of the work. (Those are the best kind of meals ever don't you think!) 

Gluten Free Stuffed Zucchini

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and free of mostly all the other allergens too)
Adapted by jalene from a recipe by Jared Nielsen

Ingredients: 

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 can gluten free stewed italian tomatoes
• 1 cup gluten free spaghetti sauce
• 8 oz hamburger meat (you can also sub in elk burger)
• 1/2 cup white rice, uncooked 

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Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 400. In a large bowl, combine the can of stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, rice, and hamburger.  Set aside. 

2.   Take a large zucchini, wash it, and cut the ends off.

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3.   Cut the zucchini into 3-4 sections. 

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4.    Then cut those sections in half and scoop out the seeds. 

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5.    Arrange your zucchini in a large 9x13 pan or on a cookie sheet. 

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6.    Scoop the tomato filling into the zucchinis until it is all used. (It's ok to overflow them or just put the extra in the pan.)

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7.    Tightly foil the top of the pan and throw it into the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the rice and zucchini are tender. 

Serve warm, refrigerate leftovers and consume within 3 days. 

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Trick from jalene:

I found that my rice cooks faster when I stuff them and then flip them UPSIDE DOWN in the pan just before baking. (So the stuffing is in the pan and the zucchini is covering it like a bowl.) Then To serve, you just scoop the ingredients and zucchini right side up. 

If you want to sub brown rice in this recipe I suggest precooking the rice first because brown rice needs more time and moisture to cook properly.