Vegetarian Recipes

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

https://www.loveandlemons.com/stuffed-zucchini-boats/

Zucchini season is upon us! For me, this time of year is always a race to enjoy summer squash in as many ways as possible. I bake it into cake, blend it into soup, toss it into pasta, layer it into lasagna, and eat it right off the grill. This year, I’m adding a new recipe to my usual rotation: stuffed zucchini! I first made these a few weeks ago for my family and even my little 2-year old nephew, who is going through a no-zucchini phase, gobbled his up.

These easy stuffed zucchini boats are a simple, fresh, and delicious showcase for peak-season summer squash. I don’t let any of the zucchini go to waste here, as I load up the zucchini shells with a bright, lemony filling that includes the scooped zucchini flesh. This recipe works best with medium-large zucchini (larger squash = more space for filling), so it’s one that you can continue to make as the season progresses and the squash get bigger. I hope you love it as much as we do!

Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Ingredients

This stuffed zucchini recipe requires just a few every day ingredients and comes together in under 30 minutes. Here’s all you need:

Zucchini, of course! I use it 2 ways, stuffing the shells with a zucchini-loaded filling.
Egg binds the filling together.
Coarse breadcrumbs create a delicious body for the filling – the top gets toasty, while the inside stays moist.
Parmesan adds melty, cheesy texture and umami flavor.
Garlic punches it up.
Cherry tomatoes dot the filling with sweet, juicy bites.
Pine nuts add crunch and richness.
Lemon zest and thyme give it a bright, fresh finish.

That’s it! Let’s cook.

How to Make Stuffed Zucchini

Stuffed vegetables may seem fussy, but they’re deceptively simple. As with my stuffed bell peppers and stuffed poblanos, these come together in just a few steps. Here’s all you need to do:

Cut the zucchini! Halve them lengthwise and hollow out the flesh, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick rim around each half.
Make the filling. Chop any large pieces of scooped flesh and transfer it all to a kitchen strainer. Press out any excess moisture, and then add the zucchini flesh to a bowl with the egg, breadcrumbs, cherry tomatoes, thyme, lemon zest, Parmesan, garlic, pine nuts, and salt. Mix until everything’s well combined.
Load up the zucchini. Drizzle the zucchini shells with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spoon in the filling.
Bake! Transfer the stuffed squash to a 475-degree oven and bake until the filling is set & nicely golden brown, 16-18 minutes.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Zucchini Recipe Tips

We made this stuffed zucchini recipe (originally inspired by the stuffed zucchini in the Ottolenghi Simple cookbook) a few times this summer. Following these tips yielded the best results every time:

Squeeze out as much water as you can from the zucchini flesh before stirring it into the filling. You don’t want it to be watery! Chop any bigger zucchini chunks into small pieces before adding them to the seedy, pulpy innards and pressing them over a kitchen strainer.
Don’t scoop too much. Make sure you leave a sturdy border of zucchini flesh to support the yummy filling. If you scoop too much, your stuffed zucchini boats will be flimsy.
Make your own breadcrumbs. Better bread = better bread crumbs, so find a good baguette or loaf of crusty bread for this recipe. Tear it into chunks and pulse them in a food processor to create coarse crumbs for the filling. Enjoy the remaining bread on the side!
Top them with pesto. These stuffed zucchini boats are great on their own, but a drizzle of pesto really takes them over the top. Make your own or use store-bought pesto in a pinch.

What to Serve with Stuffed Zucchini Boats

We like these stuffed zucchini boats as a main or side dish. If you make this recipe with 3 medium zucchini, it serves 6 as a side, if you make it with 2 large zucchini, it serves 4 as a main course along with a side dish. They’d be delicious served with refreshing gazpacho or watermelon gazpacho, this easy summer pasta salad, pesto pasta, or any of these yummy summer salads:

If you love this stuffed zucchini recipe…

Try my baked zucchini, zucchini bread, zucchini pizza, zucchini pasta, or zucchini panzanella next!

Stuffed Zucchini

Author: Jeanine Donofrio

Recipe type: Main dish or side dish

2 large or 3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup torn crusty bread, crumbled
⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ garlic clove, minced
½ cup quartered cherry tomatoes
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Pesto, for serving
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Use a small spoon to hollow out the flesh of the zucchini, leaving a little more than ¼-inch thickness around the edges. Place them cut side-up on the baking sheet.
Make the filling. Place the scooped-out zucchini flesh into a mesh strainer and gently press out any excess water. You should be left with 1 cup flesh. Chop any coarse pieces and transfer to a medium bowl with the egg, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, tomatoes, lemon zest, thyme, pine nuts, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Mix until combined, using your hands if necessary.
Drizzle the hollowed-out zucchini with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon in the filling and bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the filling is set and is golden brown and crisp on top.
Serve with pesto.

Cheesy Vegetarian

Easy Vegetable Moussaka Casserole

Just like vegetable lasagne, vegetarian moussaka is one of those dishes that I adore, but I rarely cook for myself, because it always seems like such a huge effort. Cooking lentils, boiling potatoes, grilling slices of eggplant, simmering tomato sauce… the vast majority of the time, I really, truly can not be bothered.

That’s why this vegetable moussaka casserole is such a revelation! It’s a casserole-style version of my favourite veggie moussaka, which tastes just the same, but is so much less effort to make! Just stick everything in a baking dish and let it do its thing, casserole-style.

A spoon taking a scoop from a baking dish of cheesy moussaka casserole.

This moussaka casserole has two sections:

a tasty tomatoey layer underneath, made with all the usual ingredients you’d expect to find in a vegetable moussaka – tender lentils, melt-in-your-mouth eggplant and roasted potatoes, cooked in a rich tomato sauce
a thick layer of creamy bechamel sauce on top

As you scoop into the casserole, the creamy sauce drips down and smothers the tomatoey layer. It. Is. Delicious.

How is this Easier than a Regular Vegetarian Moussaka?

I’m not going to lie, this vegetable moussaka casserole takes quite a long time to bake, and the ingredients list is a fair bit longer than the majority of my easy recipes.

However, I stand by the fact that this is so much easier to make than most moussaka recipes. Although it takes a while to cook, it’s almost all hands-off time, where you can go and relax / do some other useful jobs / play with your kids / whatever else you like to do with your life.

Vegetarian moussaka casserole topped with sliced tomato.

This vegetarian moussaka casserole is easy to make because:

using canned lentils mean there’s no boiling required.
the vegetables are roasted in the oven, rather than the more hands-on method of cooking them on the stovetop.
there’s no fiddly layering of sliced ingredients – it’s all baked up together.
even the tomatoey sauce is cooked right there in the oven with the other ingredients.

It’s definitely not a quick weeknight dinner, but if you’re at home over the weekend, it’s the perfect dish to have baking in the oven while you’re busy with other things.

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Overhead shot of a cheesy topped moussaka casserole with sliced tomatoes.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

potatoes
eggplant (aubergine)
canned lentils (mine were green lentils)
onion – I only used half an onion (a small onion would also work!)
canned tomatoes
tomato paste
garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar (my favourite time-saving ingredient!)
dried herbs – mint and oregano. I very rarely use dried mint but trust me, it tastes amazing in moussaka! Not a hint of toothpaste, I promise.
tomato – to slice up for the topping
milk, flour and butter – for the creamy white sauce. You can add a pinch of nutmeg to it as well, if you like.

Becca’s Top Tip

I used the same baking dish to roast up my vegetables, and then to cook the casserole itself. If you’ve got a little less time on your hands, the veggies will actually roast a little quicker if you spread them out on a baking tray – but I wanted to save on dishes to wash! I love a one pot meal.

Recipe Video

Overhead shot of a portion of vegetable moussaka with salad.

Printable Instructions

Vegetable Moussaka Casserole

This vegetable moussaka casserole is a much easier version of a vegetarian moussaka – but is just as tasty, with a luxurious creamy topping!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Greek, Middle Eastern, Turkish

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 1 35

Total Time 2

Servings

Calories 523kcal

Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

For the lentil layer:

1 medium eggplant (aubergine) (~ 250g / ~ 9 oz)
~ 500g (~ 1 lb) potatoes
1 medium onion (or 1/2 large onion)
2 Tbsp oil
400 g tinned lentils, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
400 g tin (~ 1 1/3 cups) chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp dried oregano

For the topping:

60 g (~ 2 oz) butter
60 g (~ 2 oz) plain flour
500 ml (~ 2 cups) milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 large tomato, sliced

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
Cut the eggplant, potatoes and onion into 2cm dice (I didn’t bother peeling the potatoes). Toss them in a little oil, and add to a baking dish – mine measured approx. 8 x 8 inches.
Roast the vegetables in the centre of the oven for around 50 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, or until the vegetables are fairly soft (the potatoes might still be a bit al dente). If you decide to spread the vegetables out onto a baking tray instead of using the dish, they will cook more quickly.
Add the tinned lentils, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic, and dried herbs, and mix well to combine.
Return to the oven for a further 30 minutes, until the tomatoes have thickened up into a rich sauce. Mix well.
To make the béchamel topping, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat, and add the flour. Mix to create a thick paste (a roux), and cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly. Add the milk a little at a time, stirring until smooth each time before adding more milk. Season to taste with salt. If you need more detailed instructions, check out my white sauce recipe.
Pour the béchamel sauce over the lentil mixture, and top with a few slices of tomato.
Return to the oven for a final 25 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned.
Allow to stand for a few minutes, then serve.

Nutrition

Recipe FAQs

Can I prepare moussaka in advance?

Absolutely! The casserole can either be cooked entirely and then reheated when needed, or you can assemble it, then do the final bake just before serving.

Can I freeze leftover moussaka?

Moussaka is perfect for batch cooking – just transfer any leftovers to a freezer-safe tub, and freeze. Reheat thoroughly in the microwave.