Stuffed Zucchini

My dad can be a bit extreme. Where two or three zucchini plants can provide more than enough zucchini for the average family to not only use, but also as super exciting gifts to eager neighbors, my dad insisted that we plant fifteen hills. Keep in mind: a hill had 3 seeds in it. So what the heck do you do with zucchinis from 45 plants? People started getting smart and locking their car doors--- not to keep thieves from stealing their belongings, but to prevent unexpected bags of zucchini from appearing in their vehicles.

Anyone who has grown zucchini can also attest that if you are not fastidious about checking the plants, they can quickly get out of hand. Even with the one zucchini plant I planted this year, a few days of not paying attention landed me with a 30-inch-long vegetable. Fortunately, years of having extreme excess had gifted me with great recipes for zucchini, and my mom's recipe for the giant variety sounded like the perfect solution to using it.

I called my mom to send the recipe to me, and I promptly (and accidentally) sent it to the trash bin. So, after another call, I got the recipe. It's currently roasting in the oven.

Stuffed Zucchini
by my awesome mom (Denise Jones)

1-2 large zucchini
1 small onion
2 stalks celery
dash of olive oil
1 lb hamburger
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
3/4 cup rice
Italian seasoning (I added this just for flavor)
salt and pepper for seasoning

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the zucchini in half, and scoop out the seeds. Salt and pepper it, and put it on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil in the oven. (It will need to cook for about an hour and a half, so it's good to get it started early.) Chop up the onion and the celery and soften them in the olive oil in a large skillet. When the onions are transparent, add the hamburger and brown. When the hamburger is browned, add the cans of soup, using 1/2 can of water in each can to swirl out the soup from the cans. Season to taste--- I used Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper, but garlic salt or other herbs could be good. Then add the rice (uncooked) and stir. Simmer for 1/2 hour until the rice is tender.

When the rice/meat is done, pull the zucchini out of the oven and pile the mixture in the hollowed out zucchini. Put back in the oven and cook for another 45 minutes or so, until the zucchini is tender. Cover with tin foil, removing for the last 10 minutes to brown. Serve. Just a note: don't feel obligated to eat the skin--- we would just scrape the zucchini off, as the skin tended to be a bit tough.

Remember, those gigantic zucchinis are still good--- and you don't need to make a ton of zucchini bread with it either. It makes a good main dish that is pretty easy to make and is really tasty. And it brings back memories of the hordes of zucchini that we grew.