Stuffed courgettes with Sausage Meat and Cheese (Stuffed Zucchini)

This stuffed courgette recipe features hearty sausage meat, caramelised onion, oozy cheese and a hint of herbs. Sayonara, boring courgettes!

Whether you're looking for a laid-back main course paired with a simple side salad or a substantial veggie side to complement your meal, this recipe has both bases covered.

It also serves as an ideal side for a Sunday dinner or festive meal. Most of the preparation can be done in advance, allowing you to simply pop them in the oven when the time comes.

In our house, we enjoy having these courgette boats on a bed of jasmine rice. Delicious!

Key ingredients and substitutions

**Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full list of ingredients.

Courgettes/Zucchini

This recipe is tailored for four large, long courgettes, approximately 22-25cm in length. If you happen to have smaller courgettes, feel free to adapt the quantity by using more courgettes or scaling down the filling.

Sausages

For the sausage filling, we go for plain pork sausages, de-skinned and broken up with a fork.

In the UK, 220g is approximately equivalent to four standard pork sausages as you would typically find them in a supermarket.

Feel free to experiment with any sausage variety you like, be it beef, lamb, chicken or flavoured sausages. Just ensure the filling resembles 'mince/ground meat' and doesn't have a processed and 'stiff' texture like chorizo.

Alternatively, you can use 220g of sausage meat if you prefer to skip the step of deskinning the sausages.

For a different twist, you can also replace the sausage meat with 220g beef mince.

Onion

While we prefer red onions, white onions or shallots make excellent alternatives. Aim for approximately 150g of the onion variety you go for.

To caramelise the onions, we add a teaspoon of sugar towards the end of the cooking process.

Cheese

We opt for a robust cheddar to maximise the cheesy flavour. Nevertheless, if you'd rather, feel free to substitute the cheddar with another cheese variety like gouda or edam.

As a final touch, we sprinkle grated parmesan over the baked courgettes. It's optional, so you can skip it if you want.

Herbs

Use your favourite herbs, as little or as much as you'd like.

We usually lean towards thyme or parsley. Although the recipe suggests dried herbs for convenience, feel free to use fresh herbs if you have them on hand.

Breadcrumbs

Use ready-made breadcrumbs or make your own by processing a few slices of stale bread in a food processor, then weigh out the required amount. It simply acts as a binding agent in this recipe.

How to make stuffed courgettes: Step-by-step

Prepping

1. Line a large baking tray with baking paper/parchment paper. Depending on the size of your trays, you may need two trays to accommodate the eight courgette halves.
   
   Tip: We like to smear a smidgen of oil or cooking spray on the tin before adding the paper to make it lay flat.

2. Using a large, sharp knife, carefully halve the courgettes lengthways.
   
   Tip: Since most courgettes are not perfectly straight and may have a slight bend toward the tip, for evenly cut halves, turn the courgette so the bendy side faces downward before slicing. This will give you two mirror-image halves.

3. Using a melon baller, grapefruit spoon or a normal spoon, scrape out as much of the courgette flesh as possible.

4. Avoid scraping too close to the sides, as you want the courgettes to maintain their 'frame' and act as a sturdy shell for the filling.

5. Set the courgette flesh aside for now. We will use it as part of the filling later. If you have very large chunks of flesh, dice it smaller.

6. Deskin the sausages by scoring each sausage lengthways with the tip of a knife and then simply peel off the skins.

7. Break the sausage meat up with a fork. Set aside.

8. In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, herbs and salt. Give it a stir to combine.

Making the stuffing

9. Preheat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6.

10. In a large frying pan, heat the oil (olive oil, sunflower oil etc) and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until they become soft and translucent.

11. Add the garlic and sugar and fry for an additional 2 minutes until the sugar is melted and the onions are lightly caramelised.

12. Add the sausage meat and tomato paste, and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat until the sausage loses its pinkness and develops a crumb-like texture.

13. Add the scooped-out courgette flesh to the frying pan.

14. With the heat still on medium-low, stir-fry the mixture for about 5 minutes until the courgette flesh is soft. Using your spatula, break the courgette pieces into smaller chunks as you stir-fry the mixture.

15. Add the warm sausage mixture to the bowl of breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs and salt.

16. Stir the ingredients until everything is well combined.

Fill the courgettes

17. Space out the courgette halves on the baking tray (or trays), leaving enough space between each for even heat distribution. Equally fill the courgette boats with the stuffing mixture.

18. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top of the courgettes.

19. Transfer the trays to the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes. Cover the trays loosely with foil and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes or until the courgette shells are soft and the stuffing golden brown and sizzling.

20. Serve piping hot with a side salad or alongside your main dish. Optionally, sprinkle over some black pepper and freshly grated parmesan for an extra cheesy kick.

Variations

• Add veggies: Customise the filling by adding different vegetables like diced, red pepper, corn kernels, spring onions, chopped tomatoes or chopped spinach.

• Mediterranean: Enhance the flavours with Mediterranean ingredients like feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and a scattering of lemon zest.

• Alternative herbs: Experiment with different herbs based on your preference, such as fresh mint, basil, parsley or coriander.

• Spicy: Add a touch of heat by including chopped jalapenos, chilli flakes or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

What can you serve with stuffed courgettes?

• You can serve this as a side dish to a main like roast pork, roast chicken, steak, fish etc.

• Serve with salads like this simple Jerusalem salad, Taboule, Pasta Fredda, Curry noodle salad, Rainbow salad and Panzanella Toscana salad.

• Other roasted vegetables like Tenderstem broccoli with roasted pine nuts.

• Garlic bread. Make your own with roasted garlic butter.

• Enjoy with white wine or try a rock shandy!

Storage and reheating

These meaty, cheesy, stuffed courgettes are at their best when served fresh from the oven. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat, place the stuffed courgettes in a preheated oven of 190°C (375°F) or gas mark 5. Heat them for 15-20 minutes or until they are heated through. If you notice the courgettes browning too quickly, cover them with foil for the remaining reheating time.