These Irresistible Zucchini Ripiene are a classic Italian summer dish made with charming ball zucchini, stuffed with a tender, flavorful beef and sausage filling enriched with the zucchini’s own pulp. Nestled around golden yellow potatoes that soak up every drop of the delicious roasting juices, this one-pan dish is as beautiful as it is comforting.
The farmers market is exploding with zucchini of any shape, color and size. Zucchini are one of my favorite ingredients as they are so versatile: delicately sweet, great raw or cooked, they can both give texture or creaminess to a dish. Yes, you can say I’m obsessed with zucchini.
Today I would love to share with you an Italian classic, stuffed zucchini, aka “Zucchine ripene”. To wow my kids I decided to use the globe or round variety I found at the farmers market.
Ready to cook? Jump directly to the recipe, preheat the oven and grab all the ingredients.
Jump to RecipeTo reply to some of your questions…
Can use a different kind of zucchini?
Yes. Many zucchini varieties can well for stuffed zucchini, the best ones are the regular long cylindric zucchini or the globe ones I used. Yellow zucchini are a great choice too.
Tips for best results:
- Choose with, unblemished skin and a similar diameter to ensure even cooking.
- Do not use too large zucchini: They might have too much pulp and seeds inside.
- Adjust bake time as needed smaller or more tender varieties may require less time larger or denser ones need few additional minutes.
What kind of meat can I use for stuffing?
I used a mix of ground beef and pork sausages for a very tasty result. You can go 100% ground beef skipping the sausage or use ground turkey or ground chicken too. The pulp of the zucchini helps keeping the meat moist, so even chicken or turkey will not taste dry.
Are you interested in more zucchini recipes?
zucchini pasta with feta cheese
Baked Zucchini Ripieni with Beef
Ingredients
- 5 zucchini balls medium size
- 2 pork sausages sweet Italian
- 4 Tbsp ricotta cheese
- 1 egg large
- 4 Tbsp breadcrumbs
- 1 Tbsp Italian parsley minced
- 2 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 lb ground beef
- 8 yellow potatoes medium
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F./180C.
- Cut the top of the zucchini ball and set in aside.5 zucchini balls
- With a teaspoon, scoop out the pulp leaving a 1/4 inch border. Season the inside of the zucchini balls with a pinch of salt each.
- Transfer the pulp in a food processor. Reduce the zucchini pulp into a paste. Transfer in a colander covered with a paper towel. Add the zucchini pulp and let it drain. Squeeze out as much water as possible to obtain a creamy texture as in the video.
- In a large bowl add the ground beef, sausage, ricotta, egg, breadcrumbs, zucchini pulp, parsley and 1 tsp of salt. Combine everything together.2 pork sausages, 4 Tbsp ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 4 Tbsp breadcrumbs, 1 Tbsp Italian parsley, 1 lb ground beef
- Transfer the zucchini balls in a baking dish. Space them nicely. Fill each zucchini ball with the meat mix and cover with the zucchini top.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them in wedges. Add them all around the zucchini. Season with 1 tsp of salt. Drizzle with olive oil.2 tsp salt, 3 Tbsp olive oil, 8 yellow potatoes
- Bake in preheated oven to F400/180C for 50 min. Remove from the oven, let the zucchini rest for 10 min and serve.
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