Stuffed Zucchini with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

On Saturday afternoon, my mom and sister came by to check out our new place.  Although I was excited to just see them both in general, I was also really excited that my mom brought over some vegetables from her garden - basil, zucchini, hot peppers, eggplants and cucumbers.  I also had the vegetables I picked up from the Andover Farmers' Market.  I wanted to use the vegetables right away so I poured myself a glass of wine and browsed through my recipe binder and found a recipe for Stuffed Zucchini with Tomatoes and Mozzarella that looked perfect!

I of course made some small modifications to the recipe based on what I had on hand and cut the recipe in half since I was only using one zucchini. 

First, I gathered my ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized zucchini
• 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 6 basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup of mozzarella chopped
• Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees and lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  I sprayed the aluminum foil with baking spray and set it aside.  Then I cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, scooped the seeds out and seasoned the zucchini with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, I combined the quartered cherry tomatoes, chopped basil leaves, white vinegar, salt and pepper.

I filled the hollowed-out zucchini with the tomato mixture and put the zucchini in the oven to bake for twenty minutes.

While the zucchini was in the oven, I chopped up the mozzarella cheese.

After twenty minutes, I took the zucchini out of the oven and topped it with both the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  I put the zucchini back in the oven and broiled it on high for three minutes.

This simple vegetable dish was so flavorful.  The zucchini was fork-tender and the tomato, basil and mozzarella filling added so much fresh summer flavor. 

We ate the zucchini with some chicken sausages that were poached in beer and then grilled on the grill.  This was another perfect summer meal.

Tell me, what dish reminds you of summer?