The Stuffed Round Zucchini with Ground Meat is a complete second course, easy to prepare, perfect to bring for lunch at the office, to the beach, or for a picnic in the open air. The beautiful days are approaching and the round zucchinis are easily found at the supermarket or greengrocer. The round zucchini is in full season from late May to early October, so their cost also drops slightly. Not that they are super cheap but at least we can buy them, this recipe is perfect for two people.
The Stuffed Round Zucchini with Ground Meat is a dish we have already enjoyed twice in the family before publishing the recipe here on the blog, to be really sure they were good! And I assure you they really are, zucchini with a soft heart and rich in flavors. Choose well the herbs you want to use during the oven cooking, I chose fresh basil and marjoram. I am lucky to have a small balcony garden for two years from which I harvest herbs, lettuce, and cherry tomatoes.
Before moving on to the recipe, I leave you other links of other preparations I have on the blog with round zucchinis or with the classic stuffed zucchinis that I have prepared over the years. Each link will take you directly to the recipe you want to read. I remind you that I am waiting for you every morning in the group and on the fan page of Facebook of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Spring
- Energy 431.18 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 16.21 (g) of which sugars 5.68 (g)
- Proteins 35.07 (g)
- Fat 25.52 (g) of which saturated 9.84 (g)of which unsaturated 10.84 (g)
- Fibers 3.43 (g)
- Sodium 848.54 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 300 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Stuffed Round Zucchini
- 5 round zucchinis (medium-small)
- 1 egg
- 7 oz ground beef (you can also use mixed ground meat or pork or veal)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons cheese (grated, in my case lactose-free)
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste dried parsley
- 5 leaves basil
- 3 sprigs marjoram
Tools for Stuffed Round Zucchini with Ground Meat
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Baking dish
- 1 Melon baller
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Oven
- 1 Pot
- 1 Stovetop
Steps of the Stuffed Round Zucchini Recipe
We start this recipe by bringing abundant water to a boil with a pinch of salt in a pot. Then we proceed to wash the round zucchinis, place them on a wooden cutting board and cut off the cap, or the top part of the round zucchini. These steps are very well shown in the video recipe found above the ingredient list.
Then take a melon baller and slowly and without applying too much pressure, remove the inside of the zucchinis. Do not throw away these scraps of ingredient, we can prepare a zucchini pesto with basil and pine nuts to dress pasta with these leftovers.
We can now boil the empty zucchinis in the pot with water. Depending on the size of the zucchinis you have purchased, wait for at least 15 minutes of boiling. Then we will quickly run the zucchinis under the cold water stream from the tap to stop the cooking and especially to avoid that they turn mushy. A technical term used by the undersigned instead of the classic “fall apart”.
Set the zucchinis aside to let them cool down completely. In the meantime, prepare the ground meat filling. So, turn on the oven in static mode at 180 degrees.
Take a bowl and pour in the ground meat, break the egg, add the two tablespoons of breadcrumbs and the two tablespoons of grated cheese. In my case lactose-free cheese. Then add a generous amount of dried parsley. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and if you like nutmeg, I add a lot because I love it.
With your hands or with a spoon, work these ingredients, do not apply too much pressure during mixing because this way it will remain very soft and easily workable to insert into the round zucchinis.
Then create portions of ground meat mixture and begin to stuff the round zucchinis. As you go, place them on the wooden cutting board, or directly into the baking dish after pouring a little extra virgin olive oil inside. Position all 5 round zucchinis in the baking dish and place some basil and marjoram leaves, as an alternative oregano or rosemary. Whatever you have at your disposal, just make sure they are fresh and not dried. Final sprinkle with some breadcrumbs directly on top of the stuffed zucchinis. Now a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Bake the stuffed round zucchinis with ground meat for at least 25 – 30 minutes. They should become nicely golden on the outside. If you want, in the last two or three minutes of cooking, you can add some grated cheese on top of the stuffed zucchinis to create an even more delicious and stringy crust.
We can then prepare some oven potatoes with rosemary to serve as a side dish for this dish. You can find the recipe here on my blog using the search lens. We can serve this second course with zucchinis and meat nice and hot just out of the oven or let it cool completely and then take it with us for lunch at the office or at the beach.
I just need to wish you bon appétit and remind you that I am waiting for you every day on the blog with the Recipe of the Day! Below you will find the box with all the social profiles to become a fan and not miss any new content and recipe live from my kitchen!!! I’m waiting for you!!
Storage and Variations
We can store the stuffed round zucchinis, of course, after letting them cool completely, in a container with a lid in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Otherwise, I recommend freezing them to keep them good and tasty for a couple of weeks. Remember, however, that in the second case you must remember to defrost them in time before reheating them again. Usually, I take them out of the freezer the night before, placing them in the refrigerator, if we will eat them for lunch. If instead, I will serve them for dinner, I can place them in the fridge even in the morning just after waking up.
