Stuffed Zucchini

This is a recipe inspired by Kayotic's famous stuffed zucchini recipe. It's heavy on dairy so the creamy, savory stuffing combines especially well with the slightly crispy, fresh zucchini boat. This is good to make if you're serving an even number of people, as you can vary the servings depending on how many zucchinis you're working with -- I used 2 for this recipe.

You will need:

2 zucchinis
1/4 cup cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Italian seasoning OR mixed oregano/basil/thyme
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
2 tbsp salted butter
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 oz monterrey jack cheese, shredded
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the ends off the zucchinis, cut them each in half and use a spoon to scoop the innards out, the shell should remain at least 1/4 inch thick. Put the zucchini guts into a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, cream, salt and butter and stir until uniform. Add the herbs, red chili flakes and chives and mix in, follow with the bread crumbs and finish with the jack cheese. You don't want to add the cheese too early, as those little pockets of melted goodness are best achieved with a roughly shredded cheese.

Use a spoon to scoop the stuffing into the boats; don't be afraid to heap it on, but keep in mind that some will most likely overflow a bit. If this isn't to your aesthetic, use 3 zucchinis instead of 2 and you'll use less filling in each boat.

Bake for about 20 minutes and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.