Still have zucchinis coming out of your ears? I hear ya!! So, here’s an EASY grilled zucchini recipe that will please the entire family! Even those that think they don’t like zukes will LOVE this cheesy, pizza-filled summer treat that will have everyone enjoying their veggies!
I used the large variety of zucchini for this recipe, not the dinky, tiny, skinny ones. The ones that I picked from my garden for this recipe measured between 12 – 16 inches long, and 4 inches in diameter, just to give you a general idea of what you’ll need for this recipe.
You can, of course, use the skinny, small variety, but you may need to adjust the grilling time, and they won’t be able to hold very much filling. Just so that we’re all together on this delicious adventure!
So all you need to get prepped for this recipe, is to cut the ends off of your prized and envied by the whole neighborhood, zucchini fresh-cut from the garden, (or your local grocery or farmer’s market), then slice it/them in half lengthwise.
With a large spoon, scrape out the inside parts that has seeds, then slice the cleaned out halves into serving sized sections.
Oil the insides with olive oil, canola oil, or butter-flavored no-stick spray, and place the pieces cut-side down onto a preheated grill.
Close the lid, and let them grill for 30 minutes keeping at 400º F.
While the zukes are doing their thing, sauté some sausage, drain the grease if excessive keeping about one tablespoon in the pan, and add chopped or halved slices of pepperoni, chopped peppers, onions, and sliced mushrooms, and cook until veggies are tender.
Then just stir in whatever sauce makes you happy! I used my Easy Quick Pizza Sauce for this, but any pizza sauce, spaghetti or pasta sauce, or marinara can be used.
When the zucchini is done grilling, pile however much filling you like right inside! The first day we added a little pineapple to ours!
Now, *and this is important*, the first day of making these, I thought that I wanted the zucchini to be crisp-tender. But, uhm, that was a mistake.
Though they look drop dead gorgeous, the bit of crunchiness of the zucchini was unappealing to both of us.
They weren’t inedible mind you. Not at all. STILL delicious, but grilling them longer, with the lid CLOSED the entire time worked out MUCH better.
Day two, because we still did LOVE these so much that we both wanted them again, I decided to grill them for the before-mentioned time of minutes with the lid closed and not even turn them.
SUCCESS!!!
DO NOT worry about the char on the very outer top edge that was facing down onto the grill, because it was DELICIOUS that way!!
And they were perfectly tender, yet NOT mushy!!
So, we were out of pineapple, (YAY!!! wink, wink!!), and just went old-school, classic pizza-style with the filling that I had made and piled on that cheese again!!
Only THIS time, I placed the grilled, filled, and topped zukes on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Lesson learned from the day before. You don’t want to lose ANY of that ooey-gooey cheese! And the cheese that spills over onto the baking sheet, all gorgeously crispy on the edges, is worth fighting for!!
Don’t even THINK about snitching that pool of luscious cheese. I called dibs on that one. OOOH, YES indeedy!!
Even day one’s pizza boats came out to die for, though! And that piece of sausage oozing out didn’t make it back into the house….I don’t know what happened to it. Pleading the fifth.
Seriously…why anyone wouldn’t like this over a cruddy delivery pizza is beyond me!! And SO much healthier!!!
If you have never had a grilled, pizza-stuffed zucchini before, you are seriously missing out!!
I mean, just look at all that stringy, cheesy goodness, right?
And you can make whatever pizza-style filling you want! Just add whatever ingredients you normally like on your pizza, and everything will go together beautifully.
So don’t freak out when you go to check your garden tomorrow and ANOTHER zucchini (or FIVE), have magically grown overnight.
This easy supper fix using zucchinis from your still exploding garden is just the ticket!!
Just as quick as waiting for a yucky, expensive, and usually all wrong pizza from delivery, and so much tastier that you might not want your zucchini plants to stop producing!
(Okay, I take that back.)
But I’m sure the whole family will enjoy VERY much the last of the summer garden with these Grilled Pizza-Stuffed Zucchini Boats tonight! Enjoy the last of the summer, and happy grilling!!
**This recipe also uses my Easy Quick Pizza Sauce.
Grilled Pizza-Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini (not the small skinny ones), anywhere about 12 -16 inches long and about 4 inches in diameter
- cooking oil or no-stick spray
Filling:
- 1 lb. ground italian sausage
- 1 small bell pepper, cleaned out and diced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 8 oz. sliced fresh mushrooms
- chopped, diced or sliced pepperoni, as desired
- my Easy Quick Pizza Sauce, or purchased
- pineapple chunks, optional
- as much shredded mozzarella and provolone blend cheese as you want
Instructions
- Sice ends off of a large zucchini (12 - 16 inches long and about 4 inches in diameter). Slice in half lengthwise. With the edge of a spoon, scrape out inside center removing the seeds and leaving just the flesh. Slice into serving-sized portions. Preheat grill to 400º F. Oil insides of zucchini, and place onto grill oiled/flesh side down. Close lid and grill for 30 minutes.
- While zucchini is cooking, in large frying pan sauté some ground sausage breaking up as you go into bite-sized pieces, drain grease if needed leaving at least 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add peppers, onions, mushrooms and pepperoni, and sauté until veggies are tender. Add any sauce you prefer to coat well, set aside.
- Remove cooked zucchini from grill and place onto a sprayed, foil-lined baking sheet. Fill each portion with lots of pizza filling. Top with handfulls of shredded cheese. Place onto grill, close the lid, and continue to cook, keeping at 400º F, until cheese is fully melted, about another 10 - 15 minutes.
- Serve hot with knives and forks, salad, and garlic bread or breadsticks. Enjoy!!
