Today we are preparing stuffed zucchini with tuna and oven-baked potatoes, easy to make and very tasty. A main course suitable for any occasion that we can customize according to our tastes.
The oven-baked zucchini can be served as either a main course or a single dish to eat for dinner, or during a buffet/aperitif, but also for lunch for those who have to eat outside the home. If you have a day at the beach or a nice picnic with friends planned, put a tray full of these zucchinis in the basket, you’ll make the day of those who have the pleasure of sharing the meal with you!
The stuffed zucchinis are also called zucchini boats and are usually filled with a stuffing made of meat, eggs, and cheese. If you remember, some time ago I proposed them with meat and smoked provola, really tasty. Or they can be stuffed with a nice risotto and the result is something spectacular, like these zucchini stuffed with rice, sausage, and mozzarella.
Today, however, I propose a new equally tasty version! Zucchini boats without meat. They are filled with tuna, potatoes, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Simple ingredients that will make your stuffed zucchinis really delicious!
Preparing the oven-baked zucchini is really simple and there are several ways to make them. Some prefer to “scoop out” the zucchinis while they are still raw and cook the pulp in a pan, which is used for the stuffing. Or you can empty the zucchinis, stuff them using all the raw ingredients, and bake them for a longer time (at least 40 minutes). Or, as in my case, quickly boil the zucchinis, empty them, stuff them, and proceed to bake them for a much faster cooking time.
In addition, pre-cooking the zucchinis before stuffing them allows the filling to stay moist and not dry out too much.
If you don’t like one of the ingredients I’ve used for the stuffing, read to the end, you’ll find my tips for possible substitutions.
Don’t like zucchinis? No problem, you can prepare the same recipe using eggplants. Try my Stuffed Eggplants without meat, with olives, capers, and mozzarella, they’re too good. Not a fan of eggplants either?! Use peppers to make these amazing Stuffed Peppers with tuna and potatoes cooked in a pan, they’re out of this world!
Other zucchini recipes I recommend trying:
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 3/6 people
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3 zucchini (medium)
- 6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- capers (about ten, only if you like them)
- Half clove garlic (not essential)
- 6 leaves basil
- 1 egg (medium whole or only egg white)
- tuna in oil (1 can of 2.5 oz)
- 1 potato (weight with skin 5.3 oz)
- 0.7 oz grated Parmesan cheese
- 0.7 oz breadcrumbs
- salt
- olive oil
Tools
- Cutting board
- Sieve
- Grater
- Baking tray
- Baking dish
- Saucepan
- Bowl
- Ladle
Steps
First, peel and wash the potatoes well, put them in a saucepan covered with cold water, and bring to a boil.
Boil for about 20-30 minutes. The cooking time varies based on the size of the potatoes. I usually cut them into chunks so they cook faster and all at the same time.
To check if they are cooked, just stick the potatoes with a toothpick. Once ready, drain and mash immediately with a fork.
Let the potatoes cool and move on to the preparation of the zucchini.
Wash the zucchini well and cut them exactly in half, vertically, with a sharp knife.
Take a large saucepan, fill it with water, and bring to a boil. Then toss in the zucchini and cook them.
It will take about 7-8 minutes, just enough time to soften the pulp to be scooped out later.
Check with a toothpick and then drain the zucchini on a cloth to drain well.
At this point, very gently, take a teaspoon and scoop out the pulp without pressing on the bottom, and put it in a sieve.
Be careful not to break the base of the zucchini, or the filling will spill out.
Once you have scooped out the zucchini and made boats, place them upside down on a wire rack lined with parchment paper.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and put them in the oven just long enough to dry them out. If you have an air fryer, it works just fine.
Convection mode, 375°F/400°F, for 6 minutes upside down, then flip the boats and put them back in the oven for another 6 minutes.
While the zucchini are baking, prepare your quick filling.
In a bowl, put the boiled and mashed potatoes, the zucchini pulp, which you will squeeze well to lose ALL the vegetable liquid and water retained during cooking.
Add the tuna, either natural or in oil, but in this case, it must be well-drained.
Add capers (only if you like), sun-dried tomatoes cut into strips, if desired, a piece of finely chopped garlic, and a pinch of pepper.
Plenty of fresh basil torn with your hands, a couple of tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, a tablespoon of breadcrumbs, and a whole egg.
Those who prefer can use only the egg white instead of the whole egg.
Season with salt and mix well until you get a well-blended mixture.
All that’s left is to generously stuff your zucchini boats!
Use a teaspoon to take some filling and place it in each zucchini until you give it a shape again.
Remember, the filling should be abundant to make the zucchini boats truly irresistible!
When you have finished stuffing all the zucchinis, drizzle with a little olive oil, a pinch of salt, a good sprinkle of Parmesan, and a bit of breadcrumbs.
Put the stuffed zucchinis back in the oven, this time static, to gratinate them, at 375°F for about 20 minutes.
In the last 5 minutes, raise to 400°F and let them brown in fan mode (if your oven is particularly strong, 375°F is fine).
Then take them out of the oven, let them cool slightly, and then serve your meat-free zucchini boats.
They’re really tasty, great even cold, perfect to put in the lunchbox if you eat outside the home.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe, let me know if you try it, and come back to visit me soon!
Article protected by copyright © – Gabriella Geroni © All rights reserved
FAQ
How to store stuffed zucchinis?
We can store the zucchini boats in the fridge either raw or cooked. Once stuffed, they should be placed in an airtight container and left in the fridge for one day before being cooked as described above.
Or after cooking, we can store them in the fridge, always in tightly closed containers to prevent them from absorbing other odors, for one/two days, no more.
If you prefer to prepare a stock to keep in the freezer, that’s fine. Once stuffed, cook them for half the cooking time in the oven (about 15 minutes). Let them completely cool and place them in containers suitable for freezing. Keep them in the freezer for up to six months, remembering to note the production date. When you want to eat them, put them directly in a baking dish without defrosting and finish cooking for about 15 minutes at 350°F.Can I avoid using the egg?
The egg is used to bind the mixture and prevent it from opening once cooked. Since I also used potatoes in this case, the stuffing remains well compact so you can choose not to use it if you wish.
I don’t like capers/sun-dried tomatoes, how can I replace them?
Both capers and sun-dried tomatoes can be replaced, or we can choose not to use them at all. So if you want to make your stuffing even simpler, omit these two ingredients, or just one of them, from your filling. Otherwise, you can replace them with olives or anchovies.
Can I cook the stuffed zucchinis in a pan?
Yes, you can cook them in an oven/air fryer for a faster cooking time and if you like the surface to be gratin. Or cook them in a pan, they will be softer, and the cooking time will be slightly longer (about 30-40 minutes). I recommend using low heat, covering them with a lid, and adding a splash of water to the bottom of the pan if they dry out too much.
You can also decide to cook the zucchinis raw. You should scoop them out with a knife or a spoon, remove the pulp, prepare the filling with all the ingredients I mentioned before. Then stuff the raw zucchinis and bake them; in this case, the cooking time will be much longer, about 40/50 minutes. The choice of the cooking method you prefer is up to you 😉Instead of potatoes, what can I add?
You can use only tuna and obviously increase the amount to 8 oz in total, or replace the potatoes with ricotta as long as it is well-drained.
