Stuffed Giant Zucchini - Allergy Friendly

Our friendly neighbors recently unloaded a basket of giant zucchini and squash upon us. Free food is such a blessing but this kind takes work to process one way or another.

Among other things that I've been doing with the squash, my recent attempt at stuffing and baking the largest of the green baseball bats was probably the most successful and tasty. Because of food sensitivities, I wasn't able to follow any of the recipes I found online or in my cookbooks and had to tweak them quite a lot. The final result of all the tweaking was quite tasty - and a great option for those who can't eat the gluten, dairy, or tomato products found in most stuffed zucchini recipes.

- 1 large 3-5 lb zucchini, halved lengthwise and seeds scraped out with a spoon. Continue to scrape insides until an even 1/4-1/2 inch of flesh is left all around. Reserve the edible scrapings to add to the stuffing. Rub zucchini halves all over with olive oil and place in large baking pan.

In a large pan coated with olive oil, brown over medium high heat

- 1 lb. ground chicken or other ground meat
with
- 1 clove of minced garlic, or 1/2 tsp of dry minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp. marjoram
-1/4 tsp. black pepper
- Salt to taste

Add
- Zucchini scrapings, and cook till translucent
Add
- 1 /1/2 cups of cooked rice (handy if you have leftover)
- Handful of chopped fresh parsley
- 1 egg

Stuff filling into zucchini cavity, mounding evenly. Top with chopped walnuts and drizzle with olive oil. Pour 1 cup of water into bottom of baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or till zucchini begins to be tender, but not mushy. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.