Stuffed zucchini boats in white sauce
Delicious zucchini boats stuffed with tomato, pork and rice filling, baked in white (béchamel) sauce and topped with a huge amount of cheese - a hearty noodle-less lasagna style comfort food for leisurely days.
Super delicious baked zucchini boats stuffed with minced pork meat in white (béchamel) sauce. This mouthwatering dish could be a perfect family dish for lasagna lovers. This recipes is not super easy to prepare and it takes almost 2 hours to get ready, but its taste compensates the hard work. You can be sure, everybody will like this delicious stuffed veggie meal.
I stuffed the zucchini boats with minced pork, but this recipe works with minced chicken or beef as well. The stew is flavoured with tomato, red onion and garlic, seasoned with parsley, paprika, salt and black pepper. The tomato and pork stew is mixed with rice and stuffed into the zucchini boats.
The stuffed zucchini boats are baked in white sauce, which gives the dish a perfect taste. For an extra savour, I sprinkled the top of the boats with a lot of cheese.
The preparation of the stuffed boats it's not so simple, you have to cook three things at the same time. First prepare the pork/chicken stew. When the stew has started to boil, cook the rice. When the rice is ready, make the white sauce. Allocate the most of the time for the white sauce, because it needs frequently stirring. Preparing the zucchini boats filling may have taken 45 minutes for experienced chefs, but for me it took almost 1 hour, from the zucchini washing to the zucchini stuffing. But all the works worth it, these stuffed zucchini boats are amazing.
Enjoy the tasty stuffed boats filled with delicious pork stew, baked in amazing white sauce. You'll love this combination, we loved it, these huge boats were devoured in 30 minutes. :)
Level: medium
Cost: medium
Calories: high
Prep time: 45 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Total time: 1 hour 45 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 4 large zucchinis
- 400 g | 0.9 lbs minced chicken, pork or beef
- 1 tomato
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 red onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 egg
- 1 cup | 200 g rice
- 1/3 cup | 50 g cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon freshly chopped parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- salt
- pepper
- <strong>For white sauce:</strong>
- 3 tbsp | 50 g butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup | 100 g cheese
- 0,7 l milk
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- salt
- white pepper
Instructions
- Halve the zucchinis lengthwise, peel them if they are too big, and scrap out the pulp and seeds. Season with salt and pepper the zucchini boats.
- Dice the onion and simmer it on oil. When the onion is softened add the minced meat, stir it well, season with salt, pepper and paprika and cook it for 30-35 minutes. If you are using chicken, the cooking time should be 25-30 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking add the chopped garlic. Peel the tomato and dice it, then add to the chicken (pork) stew, stirring it occasionally. Add two tablespoons of tomato sauce into the sauce.
- Cook the rice in salted water.
- When the meat is cooked, sprinkle it with freshly chopped parsley and basil. Beat the egg then add to the stew. Stir it well, then remove it from the heat and combine it with the cooked rice.
- While the stuffings are cooking, prepare the white sauce:
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add three tablespoons of flour, stir it until is smooth.
- Boil the milk, pour it to the flour and stir it continuously. Season it with a pinch of salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Cook the sauce 10 minutes on low heat, stirring frequently.
- Add the grated cheese to the sauce and cook it for 2-3 minutes until the bechamel sauce is dense.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F. Grease a baking tray with oil, place the zucchini boats into the tray and stuff them with the pork stew.
- Pour the bechamel sauce on the stuffed zucchinis. Cover the tray with a foil and bake it 40 minutes. After that, sprinkle the top of the zucchini boats with the rest of the cheese and bake it 20 minutes uncovered, until the cheese is golden brown.