Cheesy Grilled Zucchini Boats
These Cheesy Grilled Zucchini Boats are the zucchini craze you need to get behind! Tender summer zucchini is stuffed with cream cheese and Italian sausage, drizzled with pesto, and topped with loads of melty mozzarella.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage sweet or hot, whichever you like
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 Tablespoons basil pesto
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the grill. Preheat your grill to High heat (400-450 degrees F). Place a 12" cast iron skillet on your grill and allow that to preheat as well.
- Make the sausage filling. Cook the ground sausage in the skillet until golden brown. Drain off the rendered fat and then stir in the softened cream cheese until evenly incorporated with the sausage.
- Stuff the zucchini. Use a spoon to scrape out and discard the seeds and pulp from inside the zucchini to form the boat shape. Spoon the cream cheese sausage filling into each of the zucchini boats. Spread about 1/2 Tablespoon of basil pesto on top of the sausage mixture in each boat. Sprinkle each boat with 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella.
- Grill the zucchini boats. Place the stuffed zucchini boats onto the grill and close the lid. Grill for 4-5 minutes, then rotate the boats around the grill to avoid any hot spots. Close the lid and grill for 4-5 more minutes. You want the cheese to be melty and the zucchini to be tender-crisp. It should be softened, but still firm enough to remove from the grill to your serving tray without falling apart.
- Remove from the grill and serve. Promptly remove the zucchini from the grill. Top with chopped Italian parsley before serving, if desired.
Nutrition
Calories: 846kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 74g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Cholesterol: 194mg | Sodium: 1518mg | Potassium: 919mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1834IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 414mg | Iron: 3mg