THE PERFECT STUFFED ZUCCHINI RECIPE

If I could, I would yell from the highest mountain “I LOVE QUICHE!” Well, I guess we both know that’s not going to happen. For starters, I’m afraid of heights and am disinclined to assume such a level of strenuous activity for quiche. But, the truth remains that I do love quiche. I love quiche with ham and cheese, bacon and broccoli, mushroom and asparagus, swiss chard and onion or even a spinach meat lovers quiche. Just delicious. The only problem with quiche for me now is that I can’t eat the crust. Damn you gluten! That was a bit dramatic, I know. There are workarounds… potato crusts, almond flour crusts, cauliflower crusts and even crustless quiche (seems more like a frittata to me?). At the end of the day, so long as there are eggs mixed with things I like to eat, I’m pretty happy no matter what it is called.

This stuffed zucchini recipe is a paleo adaptation of the very first quiche I ate about twenty five years ago. It was at summer camp in northern Canada. The funny thing is that I didn’t even know it was called quiche at the time. I’m pretty sure that it was called “egg pie” and boy-oh-boy did we eat it up. I remember it being thick with fresh eggs,  studded with huge chunks of sausage and long, delicious sauteed onions. The smoldering hot cheese threads dangling off our forks enhanced our delight. It was delicious and fun to eat. My adaptation has a little less cheese, a little more flavor and is completely gluten free. It might not evoke peals of laughter at the table, but it will taste divine at your next brunch gathering.

ROUND ZUCCHINI: HOW TO PREPARE

Here’s a couple thoughts on round zucchini:

1. They are the same as regular zucchini, just round.
2. They taste the same and act the same when you cook them. Have no fear of the round zucchini.
3. If you can’t find a round zucchini, don’t worry about it. Go ahead and pick up some medium sized zucchini instead. Make boats instead of balls.
4. The color really doesn’t matter. Pick yellow, dark green, pale green or even white (pattypan squash- they are delightful!) and they will all taste fantastic.
5. Make sure that you really wash any type of zucchini that you buy. These guys lay in the dirt a lot of the time and need a good scrubbing.

It takes a little bit of time to prepare the round zucchini for this recipe. There’s just no way around it… hollowing out a zucchini is not fast work. My suggestion is to pick up a sturdy strawberry huller from Amazon or someplace. I have one that is all steel and it really helps to get the zucchini ready for stuffing. You can try to use a melon baller. I found that the zucchini kept sticking and it was a real pain to use. I also used a grapefruit spoon (the kind with the jagged edge) with really good results. Just make sure that you don’t leave too much flesh on the zucchini- it will take forever to cook and add too much moisture to the eggs… and nobody wants watery eggs.