Sunday Dinner: Stuffed Zucchini and Lemon Pasta

Oh look what I found: A post from six months ago that I never published. I remember this dish. It was good.

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I am trying to use up odds and ends that are cluttering my fridge in anticipation of filling it with all sorts of lovely fall foods like soups, pumpkin pies and the cold-weather crops like radishes, turnips and kale that I have sowed in my garden. Today: what to do with a leftover shallot-pine nut breadcrumb mixture and one large zucchini? Not to mention the heavenly meyer lemons that my parents schlepped up when they visited this last week? How about some italian-tinged stuffed zucchini with a simple lemon pasta?

I scooped out the zucchini halves (lengthwise) and sauteed the scooped out flesh with some marinara sauce and some garlic and italian seasoning. Boiled the scooped out halves for one minute, then put them in a baking dish with a little marinara in the bottom, put the cooked flesh back in and topped with the breadcrumb mixture*.

With really good ingredients, like homegrown meyer lemons, it's best to keep it simple. I heated the juice and zest of half a lemon with a little butter and black pepper and a tablespoon or so of the pasta water. Mix in the pasta and top with parmesan.




*Breadcrumbs: Start with the pine nuts and roast them in a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop or on a cookie sheet in the oven. Then saute finely chopped shallots and parsley in a touch of olive oil. Mix panko breadcrumbs, shredded parmesan cheese, the shallots and pine nuts with a dash of salt and pepper and lemon zest in a bowl. I also sauteed the chopped mushroom stems with the shallots. For amounts, basically use the proportions that you'd like to eat. It's flexible.