Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini with Polenta
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Here is a recipe for Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini with Polenta, ideal for a healthy meal and especially one that you can prepare in advance. I chose to stuff my zucchini with polenta seasoned with sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. To finish, I added some pine nuts and basil. Absolutely delicious!
A vegetarian stuffing with polenta
There are many vegetarian stuffing recipes for zucchini: with rice, couscous or even tofu. This Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini recipe is made with polenta.
Polenta is a corn flour that is cooked in water to form a kind of paste that looks like mashed potatoes. The polenta is gluten-free, which makes this recipe gluten-free.
The advantage of polenta is that it holds together very well when cooked and its consistency allows it to stand up well on the zucchini. However, as both the zucchini and the polenta are not very strong in taste, I added strong flavouring ingredients to spice up the filling: thyme, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese and finally pine nuts and basil.
This recipe will please both vegetarians and meat-eaters too! And then, if you replace the feta cheese with a vegetable cheese substitute you get a vegan recipe.
How to scoop out the flesh of zucchini without damaging them?
This is the art of this recipe: to manage to scoop out the flesh the zucchinis without damaging them to form pretty little zucchini boats. For this, I present you a tool that you certainly don’t have in your drawer yet but that will help you more than you think: the vegetable corer from Triangle!
It is a small tool with a sharp steel loop on each side that allows you to remove the flesh of relatively hard vegetables and fruits very easily. Perfect for preparing stuffed vegetables or fruits. It is dishwasher safe and does not take up much space.
Do you want to know more? Click on the link to order your own vegetable corer from Triangle.
If you don’t have a corer, you can use a small spoon, being careful not to dig too deep.
More zucchini recipes
- Zucchini Pancake with Mozzarella
- Grilled Zucchini with Oregano
- Orzo with Roasted Tomato and Zucchini
- Veggie Spiral Tarte with Parmesan
Recipe for Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini with Polenta
For 6 servings you need the following ingredients.
Ingredients
- 3 zucchini
- 125 g polenta
- 150 g feta cheese
- 100 g sun-dried tomatoes
- 150 g of cherry tomatoes,
- 1 red onion
- 250 ml of water
- 40 g butter
- 75 g of pine nuts
- Basil
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Are you missing an ingredient? Here are some tips on how to substitute certain ingredients.
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Start by washing the zucchini and cutting them lengthwise.
- Using a corer or spoon, cut a cavity in the zucchini. Chop the zucchini core finely.
- Brush the zucchini with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, drizzle olive oil into a deep pan. Add the zucchini hearts and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the thyme.
- Then pour in the polenta and water. Add salt and pepper. Mix well. Let cook on low heat for 10 minutes and then add the butter. Cook for 10 minutes more until the polenta is cooked. Then let cool for a few minutes.
- Chop the red onion, cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and the sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces. Crumble the feta.
- Add the red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and half the feta cheese to the polenta. Add salt and pepper. Remove the zucchini from the oven and top with the polenta filling.
- Finish with a few sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 200 °C.
- Garnish with remaining feta cheese and basil.
Pictures
Find the steps of the recipe in pictures.
Frequently Asked Questions
As with every blog post, here are some tips for substituting ingredients in this recipe:
- Zucchini: You can replace zucchini with eggplant, sweet potato or round zucchini.
- Polenta: You can replace polenta with rice, pasta or couscous.
- Feta: You can replace the feta cheese with goat cheese, grated cheese or mozzarella. If using mozzarella or shredded cheese, add it to the stuffed zucchini before the second baking to allow the cheese to grate.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: Sun-dried tomatoes add a touch of acidity to zucchini that can be a bit bland. You can replace the dried tomatoes with canned peppers or capers.
- Red onion: Red onion is also used to spice up the polenta stuffing. You can replace the red onion with shallots, spring onions or a clove of garlic. In this case, cook the garlic with the polenta to make it more digestible.
How long will these vegetarian stuffed zucchini last?
These vegetarian stuffed zucchinis can be kept for three days in the refrigerator.
Can I make these vegetarian stuffed zucchini in advance?
Yes, absolutely! You can prepare them up to 24 hours in advance and put them in the oven at the last minute.
Can I freeze these vegetarian stuffed zucchini?
Yes, it is! You can freeze them, they keep for 3 months in the freezer.
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Vegetarian Stuffed Zucchini with Polenta
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Ingredients
- 3 zucchini
- 125 g polenta
- 150 g feta cheese
- 100 g sun-dried tomatoes
- 150 g cherry tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- 250 ml of water
- 40 g butter
- 75 g pine nuts
- Basil
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C.
- Start by washing the zucchini and cutting them lengthwise.
- Using a corer or spoon, cut a cavity in the zucchini. Chop the zucchini core finely.
- Brush the zucchini with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, drizzle olive oil into a deep pan. Add the zucchini hearts and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the thyme.
- Then pour in the polenta and water. Add salt and pepper. Mix well. Let cook on low heat for 10 minutes and then add the butter. Cook for 10 minutes more until the polenta is cooked. Then let cool for a few minutes.
- Chop the red onion, cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and the sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces. Crumble the feta.
- Add the red onion, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and half the feta cheese to the polenta. Add salt and pepper. Remove the zucchini from the oven and top with the polenta filling.
- Finish with a few sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 200 °C.
- Garnish with remaining feta cheese and basil.
