Zucchini season is almost over. Although you can get zucchini all year round nowadays, they are now at their best (and cheapest, which comes in handy if you don’t have a garden full of zucchinis yourself). I absolutely love zucchini, it’s such a versatile vegetable. You can cook it, grill it, stuff it, layer it, grate it and bake it.

When I found some cute round zucchinis at the supermarket, I knew I had to buy them and make some delicious stuffed zucchini. And while I was at it, I stuffed some peppers as well. Well, actually I had only bought 4 round zucchinis and had too much stuffing. So I added two bell peppers to the mix. Which proved to be a good thing, as the 4 zucchinis simply weren’t enough for that hungry bunch here at home.

The recipe is as simple as it gets. I made a vegetarian version using vegetarian ground ‘beef’, but you can of course swap that for ground beef, pork, chicken or turkey.

Ingredients

• 4 round zucchinis
• 2 bell peppers
• 400 g vegetarian ground ‘beef’ (or any ground meat of choice)
• 150 g grated carrot
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red onion
• 200 ml tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp Italian spice mix
• 250 g cooked rice (I used a mix of whole grain rice, spelt and lentils)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease an oven dish.

Cut onion and yellow bell pepper into small pieces.

If you use ground meat, first brown the meat and set aside.

Fry the onion until it gets translucent, add the bell pepper and fry for a few minutes.

Add the grated carrot and fry until the carrot starts to soften.

Add the ground ‘beef’, tomato sauce, cooked rice and spices. Mix well and set aside.

Cut off the top of the zucchinis and carefully hollow them out. Don’t throw away the hollowed out ‘pulp’. It makes make a perfect soup! Simply boil the pulp in chicken or vegetable stock until soft, puree the soup using a stick blender, season to taste, add a bit of cream or cream cheese… delicious.

Hollow out the bell peppers as well.

Stuff the zucchinis and peppers, put the ‘lid’ on and place on the prepared oven dish.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.

You can serve this as a whole meal or with a fresh side salad.

Enjoy!

Need some more delicious zucchini recipes? Try my Zucchini Spinach Lasagna or Creamy Chicken with Zoodles.

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Stuffed Round Zucchini & Peppers

Servings 6 servings

Author Nicole

Ingredients

• 4 round zucchinis
• 2 bell peppers
• 400 g vegetarian ground 'beef'*
• 150 g grated carrot
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red onion
• 200 ml tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp Italian spice mix
• 250 g cooked rice**

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease an oven dish.

2. Cut onion and yellow bell pepper into small pieces.

3. If you use ground meat, first brown the meat and set aside.

4. Fry the onion until it gets translucent, add the bell pepper and fry for a few minutes.

5. Add the grated carrot and fry until the carrot starts to soften.

6. Add the ground ‘beef’, tomato sauce, cooked rice and spices. Mix well and set aside.

7. Cut off the top of the zucchinis and carefully hollow them out.***
   

8. Hollow out the bell peppers as well.

9. Stuff the zucchinis and peppers, put the ‘lid’ on and place on the prepared oven dish.

10. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Recipe Notes

*Or any ground meat of choice.

**I used a mix of whole grain rice, spelt and lentils.

***Don’t throw away the hollowed out ‘pulp’. It makes make a perfect soup! Simply boil the pulp in chicken or vegetable stock until soft, puree the soup using a stick blender, season to taste, add a bit of cream or cream cheese… delicious.