This, if you can't tell, is an enormous zucchini. It's the the type that shows up this time of year, somehow having hid beneath leaves all summer long until reaching proportions too gargantuan to ignore. There's only one thing to do with a zucchini of this size: stuff it.

This particular zucchini was bequeathed to me (as such things usually are) by a friend's mother. It had reached the epic size of five and a half pounds and I carried it home cradled in my arms like a baby.
Because we are on the cusp of fall and I have been craving the deep, savory flavors of the season, I decided to go with a stuffing-esque stuffing for this zucchini. I threw in all my favorite Thanksgiving stuffing components. There's some browned sausage, a package of mushrooms cooked until they turn golden, a handful of walnuts, and a healthy dose of fresh sage. A sprinkling of pecorino makes a crisp topping and pulls it all together.
My zucchini was so enormous that I actually only used half of it for this recipe. If you have a similarly sized zucchini, you can double the recipe and feed a whole crowd. You can also substitute several, more reasonably sized zucchinis in place of the behemoth.

Zucchini Stuffed with Sausage, Mushrooms & Sage
Serves 6-8
2 to 3 pounds zucchini, a.k.a. 1 ginormous zucchini or several medium-sized ones
1/2 cup walnuts
1 pound sausage
1 onion, diced
8 oz mushrooms, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced sage
2 eggs
1 cup shredded pecorino cheese, divided
Pre-heat the oven to 375° F. Find a rimmed baking dish large enough to fit your zucchini halves. I ended up using a turkey roasting pan.
Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Leave an inch or so of zucchini. Set the zucchini in the baking pan cut-side up and seasoning it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pour a quarter inch of boiling water into the pan, cover with foil, and bake for 10 minutes, just until the zucchini is no longer raw. Set aside to cool enough to handle.
Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast them alongside the zucchini for 5-10 minutes, until fragrant. Chop into small pieces and set aside.
Leave the oven on and set at 375°F.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the sausage, breaking it up into medium-sized bits as you go. Transfer to a bowl and drain off all but a teaspoon of the grease. Add the onions to the pan with a good pinch of salt, and cook until soft and golden. Add the mushrooms and another pinch of salt. Cook together until the mushrooms have turned golden and any moisture they released has evaporated. Stir in the garlic and sage. Cook for about thirty seconds until fragrant.
Combine the walnuts, cooked sausage, onions, and mushrooms in a large bowl. Taste and add more salt or other seasonings to taste. Beat the eggs together. Stir the eggs and 3/4 cup of the pecorino into the stuffing mixture.
Pat the zucchini dry and fill the cavity with the stuffing. Go ahead and really pack the filling in there before mounding it on top. This will help it hold together when you slice the zucchini later.
Drain the liquid from the baking pan, rub it with a little butter or olive oil, and place the stuffed zucchini back inside. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the zucchini, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the cheese is crispy.
Allow the zucchini to cool slightly. Slice into portions and serve. Leftovers will keep refrigerated for one week.
Related: A Stuffing Smackdown: The Quest for the Perfect Recipe
(Images: Emma Christensen)
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Comments (9)
Yum! I'm assuming you could also do this with any of the larger fall squashes (butternut, acorn)?
@Danid - Oh, totally! With winter squashes, I'd probably pre-cook the squashes a little longer before stuffing them to be just sure they are completely cooked through.
Yay! I have three monster zukes sitting on the counter staring at me. This sounds like a delicious way to use one up, thanks!
I couldn't find a zucchini of the ginormous kind at the store but I did find my favorite squash: spaghetti. I made everything the same way except I cooked the squash through and used a fork to take out the strands. Then I mixed the squash with the rest and baked it for the same amount of time. It was delicious.
For many years, I have made an almost identical recipe: Sicilian style stuffed eggplant.
No mushrooms, but all the rest of the ingredients are the same, with the following changes: Instead of walnuts, toasted pine nuts. Instead of sage, fresh rosemary and flat leaf parsley. And, golden raisin are added, along with a healthy squeeze of fresh lemon juice to balance the flavors.
The eggplant flesh becomes custardy and so unctuous. It's to die for.
Made this tonight and it was nice! I did feel like it was missing a little something, but not sure what. I added some dried cherries since I love them in my Thanksgiving stuffing, and they were nice here too. I also used slivered almonds since that's all I had, and I added some red pepper flakes and fresh parsley. I still felt like it needed a little extra punch. Maybe some rice or other grain might add some texture? I didn't have any cheese--maybe that would be the missing element? Either way I'll try to make it again and vary things.
this was delicious. i adapted it to use acorn squash and added fresh cranberries and nutmeg. this will be a fall staple!
Used this great recipe as inspiration last night, with ingredients scrounged from my garden/freezer. Cooked the monster zucchini the same way, but used toasted italian bread, scrapple (similar to sausage), onion, tomatoes, parsley, and parm cheese for the stuffing. Delicious!!!
Wow, that was yummy.
Used what I had on hand, so pine nuts instead of walnuts, basil instead of sage, and Italian sausage.
I also cut the sausage down to half a pound and added some wild rice to bulk it up.
I will definitely be making this again.