Pesto Chicken Stuffed Zucchini Boats

As seen on

Ambitious Kitchen

Total Time

55 minutes

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

35 minutes

Rating

(60)

Ingredients

4 servings

For the pesto:
3/4 cup packed fresh cilantro
1/2 cup cashews (raw or roasted is fine)
1 jalapeno, seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
1/2 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
2-3 tablespoons water, to thin pesto
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the zucchini boats:
Olive oil
4 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise (look for zucchini that is similar in size)
3/4 pound (about 2 cups) cooked shredded chicken breast (can also be from a rotisserie chicken)
½ cup roughly chopped cherry tomatoes
1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
Optional: ¼ cup parmesan cheese
To garnish:
Extra cilantro and quartered cherry tomatoes

American Baking Dinner Dairy ...

How would you rate this recipe?

Preparation

Inline ingredients (beta)

Cook mode (keeps screen awake)

Click to complete

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan with olive oil.

Step 2

Make the pesto: add all pesto ingredients to the bowl of a food processor: cilantro, cashews, jalapeño, garlic cloves, lime juice, olive oil, water and salt and pepper. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides and processing again, if necessary.

Step 3

Transfer pesto to a large bowl and stir in the shredded chicken, chopped cherry tomatoes and ½ cup mozzarella cheese (we’re reserving the rest of the cheese for topping).

Step 4

Using a spoon, scoop centers from zucchini while leaving a 1/4-inch rim to create boats. Place zucchini in the greased pan; they should snuggle pretty tightly in there, but if you can’t fit them all in, you can use two pans. Brush zucchini with a little olive oil (about 1 tablespoon or so) and season with salt and pepper. You can also simply spray them with an all natural oil-only cooking spray.

Step 5

Spoon pesto chicken mixture evenly into zucchini boats. Top each with 1 1/2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan if desired.

Step 6

Cover with foil, and bake for 35-45 minutes or until cheese has melted and zucchini is tender. Once done, sprinkle the tops with cilantro and extra cherry tomatoes before serving. Serves 4; 2 boats per person.