Stuffed Round Zucchini

 

              I am happy today!! I am happy because when I first saw round zucchini's in an Israeli cookbook, I didn't think that I would end up finding them locally a month later. Who doesn't love farmer's markets??? And this may shock some of you that already know about these wonders of nature, but to me I didn't even know they existed until a few months ago.   This is my perfect vegetable! I love to stuff and I adore squash. "WHERE CAN I FIND THIS?" was my mantra for about four weeks.  I knew that the only place I would probably run across them was in a farmers market. That is exactly what happened, but it happened unexpectedly when I was out with my cousin in Union Square. It's my favorite farmers market  Though on the bit expensive side, there is nothing they don't have. What shows up in my vision? Yup you guessed right, a round zucchini's, it was like a gift sent from the heavens. I think I even heard a few angels sing as I actually zoomed in to grab a few. To top it off, they were grown in South Jersey, so I knew that iwas supporting my Jersey farmers too. Victory!! I packed three. One for me, one for the hubby, and one for lunch the next day. 

Round zucchini's are no different than the regular long ones, they are just cuter and easier to stuff. There are many variations to this, but I chose ground chicken. I had it stocked, and I always improvise with whatever is in the kitchen.

So here goes:

Round Zucchini

4 Round Zucchini

1/2 lb of ground chicken

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 teaspoon herbs de provonce

1/2 cup veggies (I used spinach and mushrooms)

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°. Cut a thin slice off the tops of the round zucchini and discard them. Using a small spoon, scrape out the flesh, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick wall. Coarsely chop the flesh and squeeze dry.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the diced zucchini and veggies season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until barely tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in the skillet. Add the onion, garlic, herbs de provonce and scraped out zucchini flesh and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes..Stir in the chicken season with salt and pepper. Cook till all the water/fat has evaporated and its relatively dry (the chicken should be cooked by this point)
Season the zucchini cups with salt and pepper and brush the outside with olive oil. .Mound the stuffing in the cups. Set the zucchini on a baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, or until tender and heated through. Serve hot or at room temperature.