Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini Boats – Moroccan spiced veggies with chickpeas and dried cherries | Gluten Free + Vegan
Summer is now officially 2 days away here in our little neck of the woods and I for one am OFFICIALLY ready to consume all things zucchini!
Gimme sweet! Gimme savoury! There are only a million and one things to do with my favourite summer veg so let’s get it started!
You in?
The inspiration for these Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini Boats came from a recipe I shared a couple months back for a Moroccan chicken stew. That recipe has been getting quite a few positive reviews on Instagram lately – I figured it was time for a little recipe revamp. When trying to think of a dairy free way to eat zucchini boats this seemed like a perfect fit!
Making of: Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini Boats
This recipe is comprised of two main steps:
Zucchini Prep
Filling Prep
The zucchini prep is pretty straight forward – you just slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and hollow out the insides with a spoon or melon baller. A lot of stuffed zucchini recipes discard the seeds, but we’re going to add them back to the filling to reduce the amount of waste here.
The filling takes a little more work here because of the amount of ingredients that go into it, but it’s well worth it for the end result. Again, it’s a fairly simple process of sautéing and layering flavours as you go to create a quick, chickpea stew. Once the filling is complete it’s just a matter of stuffing and baking until you’re done.
These Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini Boats are
Healthy
Meat Free
Protein Packed (thank chickpeas)
& Simply Delicious!
You can always make the filling and refrigerate ahead of time for an even easier dinner prep. Just pull it out and cook as you need – great after coming home from a long day of work.
Enjoy!
Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini Boats - Moroccan spiced veggies with chickpeas and dried cherries | Gluten Free + Vegan
Ingredients
- 5 large zucchinis, washed and ends up off
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 white onion , diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt + more to taste
- 1 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, crushed or chopped
- 1 medium carrot, (about 6 inches long) peeled and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 1 cup vegetable stock, (250 ml) aim for a lower sodium stock
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped into small pieces
- 1 14 oz can chickpeas, liquid drained and chickpeas rinsed.
Instructions
Zucchini Prep
- Cut each zucchini in half horizontally, then carefully scoop out the seeds, leaving about 1/2-inch of zucchini on the skin. Place the scooped out insides into a medium sized bowl and gently pat with a paper towel to get rid of a bit of the excess water.
- Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C. Line or grease baking sheet. Place each zucchini half onto the baking sheet, skin side down and set aside.
Filling Prep
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. When the oil is hot add the diced onion and salt and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ginger, garlic and carrot to the pan. Stir.
- Add the spices the vegetables and stir it all together, coating everything in spice. Add the stock, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a fitted lid and let cook for 10 minutes. Taste and season with more salt as necessary.
- Add the chopped cherries & chickpeas and stir to mix in well. Turn off the heat.
- Spoon the chickpea filling carefully into each zucchini half, filling as much as you can. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. When done the zucchini should be tender.
- Let cook for about 5 minutes, sprinkle a little cilantro over the top and enjoy!
Abigail says
This was one of my favorite meals I’ve made in a while! The zucchini boats are so fun, colorful and tasty, and seem really healthy too. I made some modifications:
– I only had 4 zucchini, so it made some leftover filling that was also *amazing* as a soup!
– I added the zucchini seeds back into the filling at the same time as the tomatoes to cook together.
– Subbed dried cranberries (craizins) for the dried cherries, which was also super yummy!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Abigail! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back & leave a review! I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed the zucchini boats & I LOVE the idea to use the leftover filling in a soup – yum!
Jean says
I had everything but dried cherries and coriander on hand, so i substituted dried cranberries, and my ‘Indian blend’ spice…..it came out FANtastic! Thank you
Sarah Nevins says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it – thanks, Jean!
Brett Carter says
When do you add the seeds back in?
Sarah Nevins says
No need to add the seeds back – you just need to hollowed out zucchini
Feli says
How much are 1 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes in gram or in ml? I live in Germany and I really want to try this but I don’t know how much crushed tomatoes, so please answer
Sarah says
Hi Feli! It’s about 400 grams