In keeping with the mixing things up in our menu rotation, we’ve been trying to inlude a meatless meal or two each week. The males in my house are slowly adjusting to having a meatless meal once a week, and I’ve actually been enjoying the exploration of different recipes.  This is a bruschetta recipe that gives us another way to use up zucchini- which is good because zucchini seems to do REALLY well in our garden and I always have too much!

Bruschetta Zucchini Boats

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 orange tomato, seeded and cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup onion, finely chopped
½ tsp crushed red pepper”
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp grape seed oil
1 ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp fresh Basil, chopped {I use shredding scissors}
4 zucchini
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil.

2)  Slice zucchini in half lengthwise.  Using a melon baller, scoop out the middle of the zucchini halves to create a “boat.”  Bake in oven for about 5-7 minutes.

3)  In medium pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic and crushed red pepper.  Saute on medium for 3-4 minutes until onions are softened and garlic is lightly browned.  Season with salt and pepper.  Let cool.

4)  In a large bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, orange tomato, and garlic mixture.  Stir to combine.  Add balsamic vinegar and stir well.  Mix in fresh basil.

5)  Spoon tomato mixture into zucchini cavities and top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake in oven for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted.