Cheese & Sausage Stuffed Zucchini

Long time, no see, right??? About a month ago, a friend told me that I should start posting here again. It's really difficult, when you're as immensely lazy as I am. However, I made a rather tasty dinner last night. AND I managed to get a picture of it! I took it with my crappy iphone camera, but that's better than NO picture, right???

I'd really like to get back into taking pretty pictures of my food and sharing with you, even if it IS just one person reading. ;-)

This recipe is based upon this recipe at AllRecipes.com. Just a note about this recipe. The zucchini that I used was probably 2 inches in diameter and maybe 9 or 10 inches long. I had a TON of extra filling. Next time, I will either use a bigger zucchini (or two of this size) OR cut the filling in half.



CHEESE & SAUSAGE STUFFED ZUCCHINI
Ingredients:
12 ounces pork sausage
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 large zucchini
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pinch garlic salt
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking dish (size is dependent on the size of your zucchini).
2. Place crumbled sausage and onion in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain and mix in brown rice. Set aside.
3. Partially cook zucchini in the microwave on high for 3-5 minutes (depends on the size of your zucchini). Remove from the microwave and let cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine eggs, cheeses, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper.
4. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and rinse. Place both halves in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with garlic salt. Layer the sausage mixture, tomatoes and cheese mixture in each half.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. Then broil for 5 minutes or until cheese turns brown.