Zucchini Boats

Skip sprouted teeth quite late, when he was almost two and now, of all times, he had three of his milk teeth shaking! The other day, with a wad of cotton in his hand, he came and sat on my lap, opened his mouth and instructed me to pull out the loose tooth (this was the lower incisor).  I looked at Sky who suddenly had a work related call to attend to. I took in deep breaths which didn’t help my light-headedness. It brought back memories of my mother chasing me around the house to pluck my tooth that would be dangerously hanging from a thread of gum tissue.  I am still being chased around, only this time I had to be the one pulling out the teeth. This isn’t the kind of “life has come a full circle” that I was expecting. (I am feeling dizzy even as I type this post). Seems like such a joke that I once wanted to become a Doctor (a cardiothoracic surgeon to be specific) and now I can’t even pluck a tooth.

After a few attempts (or may have been many, I can’t say, it all seems a blur now), blood gushing out and a “bloody” smile, Sky came to me and held my hands sympathetically while I tried to hold the bile back in. Skip was busy admiring his bloody mouth in front of the mirror.

His upper teeth are wobbly now. After multiple attempts by Sky and me, those stubborn teeth still continue to cling on to the gums, for their dear lives. I wake up daily with a prayer that those teeth just pop off by themselves!

Why so much talk about teeth for a Zucchini post, you may ask?

I send pictures of my cooking to my parents and I proudly sent these pretty Zucchini Boats to them and my mother found onions that she said looked like teeth sticking out of the Zucchini!

I love roasted Zucchini and I think they always taste better with some sort of topping. This is a recipe for those days when you don’t know what to cook for dinner and but want to whip up something quick and delicious. It’s also a great appetizer for parties (not that you would be attending or hosting any for some time) and it looks ‘fancy’ too.  You can add whatever veggies/cottage cheese/meat you love, on them. Cheese and sautéed onions enhance the flavour. I had sausages at home so I put them on the Zucchini. Roasted Zucchini and Sausage, best combo ever!!! The ones without the sausage (made for Skip) tasted delicious too. The Zucchini is succulent, the earthy taste of the pizza sauce goes well with the caramelised onions and the salty cheese and the sausage is the bonus!

ZUCCHINI BOATS

Ingredients:

Zucchini – 2

Pizza sauce – 2 tbsps

Onion – One quarter of a medium sized one

Italian herbs – 1 tbsp

Sausages – 4

Cheese(grated) – as required

Oil – as required

Salt – as per taste

Method:

1.   Chop the Zucchini into 4 slices and scoop out the pulp. Finely chop the scooped out pulp.

2.   In a pan, sauté chopped onion until it begins to caramelise and add the chopped Zucchini bits to it. Add salt and Italian herbs (I added oregano, thank you Dominos). Mix well and set aside.

3.    In a separate pan, fry the sausages until done.

4.    Poke holes into the Zucchini shells, rub oil on them and place on the baking tray.

5.    Smear a teaspoonful of pizza sauce on each. Spoon in the onion-zucchini mixture. Sprinkle cheese on it and top it with the sausage.

6.    Roast the Zucchinis at 180C for around 25 minutes until the Zucchini is tender.

7.   Done

Recipe notes:

•       Mozarella works best, I added Cheddar as I kept the wrong block of cheese out to thaw.
•       Cooked Bell peppers, ground meat, mushrooms, cottage cheese would taste great with Zucchini too or you could just have it with onions and cheese!