Cheeseburger Stuffed Eight Ball Zucchini

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings 4 -6 servings

Author Breathing and Cooking

Preheat oven to 350°f. Slice off the tops of zucchinis and use a spoon to scoop out centers, leaving a thick outer layer (see notes)
Sprinkle insides of squash with kosher salt and place, upside down, in a casserole dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place squash, right side up, on a plate until cool enough to handle and ready to stuff.

Increase oven to 375°
Place rice in a sauce pan and add water plus a pinch of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and let cook 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to sit, covered, 5 more minutes. After 5 minutes, uncover and stir. set aside until ready to add to filling. Rice will not be cooked through and will not have absorbed all of the water. This is ok, we're just partially cooking it. It will finish when it's baked in the oven.
In a wide skillet heat 1 Tablespoon oil. Add diced onion and saute 1 minute, just to soften. Crumble ground beef up into skillet along with minced garlic. Stir and cook, breaking up ground beef, until almost cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. You still want to see some pink in the meat.
Turn off heat.
To the pan add rice (don't drain if it's a little wet), ketchup, drained tomatoes, 3 Tablespoons diced pickles, yellow mustard, worcestershire sauce, kosher salt and cracked pepper to taste (I use about 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and maybe 8 twists of cracked pepper). Stir well and then add most of the cheese (reserving enough to sprinkle tops of zucchini liberally once stuffed).

Fill hollowed zucchinis completely with filling, but don't pack the filling down tightly. It will expand slightly while cooking. I like to mound the filling slightly on the top, this will depend on how many zucchini you're cooking and how big they are.
As you fill them place in a lightly greased baking dish (I just drizzle a little olive oil on the bottom). Top each one with a nice layer of cheese
If you have leftover filling, add the reserved tomato juice (from your diced tomatoes) to the extra filling and spread it around your zucchinis in the dish.
Bake UNCOVERED in the center of your oven for 40 minutes. All ovens are different, so check at 30 minutes and if the cheese is getting too brown tent with a greased piece of foil.
Remove from oven once cooked and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Top each one with reserved diced pickles and enjoy!

I made this recipe using 4 zucchini, but there was enough filling for 5 or 6, depending on how full I would have stuffed them. Use your discretion and know that if you stuff 4 you'll have some extra filling after stuffing to add to the pan (thinned with your reserved tomato juice), if you stuff 6 you probably won't.
I use jasmine rice, but you could use another type of rice (or I think farro would be great, too). Whatever you choose, you'll cook it until just slightly undercooked, so that it finishes while it bakes.
I salt to taste and always use kosher salt. The granules of kosher salt are larger than table salt, so if you're using table salt be careful not to over salt. I do give a measurement for the filling (because it's not cooked through when you stuff the zucchini) using kosher salt. If you're using table salt, cut that amount in half.
Eight ball zucchinis have a short season so if you can't find them don't let that stop you from making this! The filling would be excellent in stuffed peppers or even regular zucchini (halved and scooped out like boats), you may need to adjust times accordingly if using a different vegetable. Don't be afraid to get creative- that's the fun of cooking!