Other things than oars, jackets and booze go into this boat.
What is it about a really easy recipe that makes me turn away sometimes. Sometimes I feel like a recipe with just a few ingredients won’t be big on taste. That was not true with this recipe.
The one thing I should have changed is that I used small zucchini the first time I made these over Easter and they were so good, I wanted more. I was afraid I had scooped out too much of the flesh and wouldn’t have enough “boat” to hold the other ingredients. They turned out fine, but bigger would have been better in this case.
I loved the fontina in this dish. I was tempted to use pieces of string cheese only because I have a ton of left from Christmas. Not much I would change about this recipe either. Loved it just the way it was written other than I added some Parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs.
I found this recipe at Proud Italian Cook and I think the only change I made was to add the Parmesan cheese in with the bread crumbs.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Truffled Parmesan Frites was a favorite at some of the cocktail parties I catered.
Use a small melon baller or a smaller and scoop out enough of the inside so the tomato halves have a place to rest.
Top the zucchini with 4-5 grape tomato halves.
Brush the zucchini and tomatoes with the garlic/olive oil mixture and sprinkle with bread crumb/Parmesan cheese mixture.
Cut your basil into julienne strips and have your fontina cheese cut in small pieces. Set aside.
After your zucchini have cooked about 30 minutes, remove from oven and place a small piece of cheese in between the tomato halves. (If you have any left over bread crumbs/cheese mixture, sprinkle more over the cheese before putting in the broiler.) Run under the broiler until nice and bubbly brown.
Zucchini Tomato Boats
Ingredients
- 2 Zucchini small to medium size
- grape tomatoes cut in half
- 1/3 c. panko bread crumbs
- 1-2 cloves garlic crushed or finely minced
- 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
- 1/4-1/3 c. basil cut very thin for garnish
- diced fontina or mozzarella I used fontina
- Olive Oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Trim the stem end off the zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. Cut a small piece off the bottom so that the zucchini boat will set level on the baking sheet.
- Using a small spoon or melon baller, scoop out the center where the seeds are. Brush the surface with a mixture of the crushed garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange halved tomatoes into the hollowed out part of the zucchini.
- Mix the Parmesan cheese with the bread crumbs and sprinkle this over the tomatoes and zucchini. Bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes. Remove and place the diced cheese in between the tomatoes and place back in oven but now under the broiler until golden and bubbling. Remove and drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the shredded basil leaves. Serves 4. (If you have any of the garlic/oil left mix with any bread crumbs that are left and sprinkle this over the cheese before putting under broiler.)
2 Comments
Franchesca Beaureguard
May 14, 2013 at 11:16 amLooks great to try this summer with all the cherry tomatoes coming in:-) Thanks!
Savory Pecans «
January 15, 2015 at 5:01 am[…] FROM THE PAST: Zucchini Tomato Boats is a recipe I posted back in 2013. If you are looking for some vegetable recipes to […]