How to Stuff a Zucchini and Bob's Red Mill

I normally would consider myself a vegetable and fruit connoisseur being able to identify most-- until one late June evening when I paid a visit to my garden. It is my usual superstition habit to cross my fingers when walking out to my garden hoping for some good news! This particular night I noticed some blossoms on a volunteer squash plant that was sharing space with my cucumbers. So I decided to carefully lift those darn prickly leaves- and to my surprise this is what I discovered.

Yep! It's a round zucchini. I have seen the cue ball variety but never one that looks like a watermelon! Have you?

I wasn't really sure what to do with this so I sent one over to my mom for a little experiment. She shred it and used some for bread. It worked perfectly! So when it was my turn I decided that I'd play on the versatility of this vegetable and try stuffing it. Since this one has a strong outside shell it's perfect to hold a delicious filling. A filling like a grain from Bob's Red Mill!!

When I was at BlogHer Food in May I had the pleasure of meeting some of the folks from Bob's Red Mill and was introduced to their Grande Whole Grain Cereal. They were kind enough to give me a bag to take home and try. So for this dish I decided to keep it simple and follow the recipe on the back of the bag. Grande Whole Grain Risotto! What a perfect addition to the squash.

Note: I chose not to add the peas nor mushrooms.- Afraid there would be too much moisture to use in the zucchini. Instead I used green peppers and some fresh goat cheese.

How to Stuff a Zucchini (Round or oblong)

Directions
1. You need to pick a strong zucc! One that doesn't have any brown spots. I have found that the greener the zucchini (darker green works best), the more sturdy it will be on the inside for the filling.

2. I used the very unique round zucchini so finding a location to open the cavity was not hard but if you are using the regular long shape form then find the flattest location and use it as the bottom. Then carefully slice off a piece the length of the zucchini- just enough to make an opening.

3. Use a sturdy spoon, or ice cream scoop like I did and scoop out the seeds. Don't take the spoon too close to the rim. You want to leave some of the flesh to eat with your stuffing.

4. Rub a dab of olive oil on the squash to prevent from burning.

5. Carefully add the stuffing inside the squash, pushing it down to the bottom of the carved center. If using an oblong, or regular sized squash then spread it out to each end instead.

6. Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake 30 minutes or until inside flesh is soft.

Speaking of Bob's Red Mill-- there are only 2 more days left in Spar for the Spurtle competition!! DEADLINE is July 30th! So get cooking!

Some notes regarding the competition-
- Recipe must include Bob’s Red Mill’s Steel Cut Oats, and it can be sweet or savory.   
- Recipe must be demonstrated in a video
- Actual recipe submission must be a video submission     
Contest rules click here.