Italian layered Zucchini

I was reading Food Network magazine and saw a recipe for stuffed zucchini.  Actually, they had four solid recipes for stuffed zucchini.  The one with Ricotta is the one that caught my attention and the one I decided to make.

When I gathered the ingredients, I found one of my zucchinis had a bad spot and I had to peel them to make sure they were usable.  I cut off parts of the bad zucchini and then cut them in half lengthwise in preparation to stuff them.  I decided, I was not scooping out the seedy part of the zucchini which we usually eat and was almost seedless.  My problem then was I had nothing to fill so I changed the name of the recipe and the way I put it together as well as one of the ingredients.  

When I took the first  bite, I realized it was not cooked as well as it could have been and ended up liking it much better this way.  It gave the whole dish a firmer base and it was a good bite.  

This is a dish, I can see making again and I rarely repeat dishes.  It is easy to make and tasty to eat.  I would use fresh oregano or basil, next time, in place of the parsley.  I can also see using goat cheese in place of Ricotta although the Ricotta worked beautifully.

Italian Layered Zucchini

Ingredients:

2 Zucchini, cut in half down the middle (in half)

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella 

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

sprinkling of black pepper to taste

3/4 cup marinara sauce 

1 tablespoon Parmesan

Method:

Line a baking dish with aluminum foil, big enough for the cut pieces.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine ricotta, mozzarella, parsley and lemon juice.

Season with pepper.

Layer ricotta cheese mixture on top of zucchini halves.

Drizzle about a tablespoon of marinara sauce on each zucchini half.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle Parmesan on top of zucchini.

Put back in the oven for 2 - 4 minutes.

Remove and eat and enjoy.

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