Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Tongiht we are having stuffed zucchini boats, bex-style. So this is more a recipe than my actual process of doing it. When I do it, there are tons of extended breaks.

Stuffed Zucchini Boats--Bex-Style

• Large zucchini or a couple mediums
• Ground meat (beef, pork, a mix, whatever you have or is cheapest)
• Loose rice
• Some salsa
• Salt and pepper
• An onion and optionally a chopped pepper
• Grated cheese

1. Wash the outside of the zucchini.
2. Cut the ends off and cut it in half lengthwise.
3. Scoop out the seeds and get rid of them.
4. Scrape out the inside of the zucchini (putting your scrapings into a bowl) until you leave a shell about .5cm thick in smaller zucchinis up to about 1.5 cm thick in baseball bat sized ones. Leave a little extra towards the ends, where there isn't peel to reinforce it.
   
5. Put the halves cut-side down on a dishcloth or papertowels to drain while you do everything else (and probably take a few breaks).
6. Use a staff blender to turn the zucchini scrapings into mush.
7. Peel the onion and cut it into large chunks. Add them to the zucchini mush and again process with the staff blender.
8. Add salt, pepper, salsa (probably at least a tablespoon per person you are feeding, but vary according to your preferences and the strength of the salsa), rice (I use about a cup [2.5dl] for a giant zucchini), and meat.
9. Mix it all together with your hands, a spoon, or an electric mixer. I think hands are easiest.
10. Turn the zucchini shells over and salt the insides. Put them on an oven-safe dish or cookie sheet. Use something with a little depth, because they will ooze a lot of liquid in the oven.
    
11. Spoon in the stuffing.
12. If you have too much stuffing, you can bake the extra in hollow peppers, onions, or just in a dish. But it may need some water added, because normally the rice sucks up the juices from the zucchini.
    
13. Cover with foil.
14. Bake at around 350 (175C) for an hour probably. If you aren't sure when you want to eat, you can always put it in at a much lower temperature to get it started. The time varies depending on the size. You can tell it is done by the color of the meat and by the shininess and softness of the zucchini boats.
    
15. Remove the foil and cover with grated cheese.
16. Turn the temperature up to grill, or broiler, or high or whatever works for you and bake until the cheese browns and bubbles.
17. Serve.
18. Since the boats include meat, vegetables, and rice, you really don't need a side dish.
19. This goes well with a nice glass of red wine!

Note: You can vary the seasonings and meat extensively. This is just the one that usually goes over best with visitors and is easiest.