Zucchini Boat Recipe - Show and Tell Friday

Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!  I've seen different versions of these zucchini boats all over Pinterest and Facebook and since they look so healthy I've been wanting to make them and I finally got around to doing it!  Rather than use someone else's recipe I decided to just make my own version up because I wanted to use a lot of one of my favorite ingredients....BASIL!

See that tube in the photo above? I'm addicted to this stuff! It's Gourmet Garden Basil Paste.  I buy a tube of this stuff about every two weeks and use it in so many different things! You can find it in the produce section.  They have lots of different herbs and herb blends available but I've only tried the basil so far. 

You can see in the photo above all the ingredients I used. Fresh zucchini, chopped garlic (I used the kind in the jar), shredded skim milk mozzarella, Gourmet Garden Basil Paste, fresh basil (from my garden), red pepper flakes and salt and pepper, and some grape or cherry tomatoes (which I forgot to include in the photo)

First you half the zucchini length-wise and scoop out the middle to make a boat. I also sliced of a little of the bottom so they would be more stable on the baking sheet. Then salt and pepper.

Next I added some fresh garlic and squeezed on the basil paste and spread it out.

Then just top with some shredded mozzarella, halved grape tomatoes and some red pepper flakes.  You can add some Parmesan cheese on top but I didn't have any.  Bake in a 350 degree of for about 20 minutes and then put under the broiler for a minute or two to brown the cheese a little.

Remove from the oven and top with fresh basil. 

These would be wonderful with some grilled chicken. I had a big lunch the day I made these so I just had 3 of these for dinner! They were amazing!  I think the basil paste really made a difference! I love that stuff!  They should be paying me for all the free advertising they are getting! Haha  I think next time I make this I will mix a little of the basil paste with some olive oil and drizzle it over the top. I thought of doing that but wanted to keep the calorie count down.

Some of the other things I use the basil paste in:  Omelets with tomatoes and cheese, marinades, chicken, mixed with olive oil and brushed on grilled kabobs, pasta, garlic bread, veggie pita pizzas... I could go on and on...

Thanks to all of you that join in on Show and Tell Friday every week and thanks to all of you who leave such nice comments!

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog.

Edit: sorry this didn't go up at 6pm PT on Thursday as planned! I was out and i thought it I hit publish but I guess I didn't!