I love pizza and I am always looking for guilt free ways to enjoy traditional pizza flavors, so I decided to use zucchini and make mushroom pizza zucchini boats. The thing that I love most about making these is that you can pretty much use whatever you like in them. I like to top mine with a layer of extra thick cashew cream sauce (recipe included)
Cook Time: 25 Minutes
Makes 4 Servings
All you need is:
2 Zucchini sliced in half – Use a spoon to scoop out the center but make sure you DO NOT puncture the zucchini. Reserve some of the filling to add into your mushroom filling.
1 8oz Package of Baby Portabella Mushrooms Chopped *You can always use whatever mushrooms you prefer. I prefer baby portabellas because they do not reduce in size as much when cooking regular button mushrooms.
1/2 Cup of Diced Tomatoes
1 Cup of Fresh Spinach Chopped or any leafy green that you prefer. I used mixed greens
2-3 Tbs of Fresh Basil Chopped
1/2 Cup of Marinara Sauce
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
1/2 Tsp of Garlic Powder
2 Tbs of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Cashew Cream:
1-1/2 Cups of Soaked Cashews (soak them for a minimum of 2-3 hours. Drain and rinse before using. If you don't have time you can soak them in really hot water for about 10 minutes then drain and rinse before using)
Juice of a Lemon
2-3 Tsp of Garlic Powder
2 Tsp of Onion Powder
3 Tbs of Nutritional Yeast
3/4 Cup of Water
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Preparation:
Preheat Oven to 375*
First make the cashew cream by combining all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Then add in salt and pepper to taste.
Place a large skillet with extra virgin olive oil over medium heat and add in the mushrooms and zucchini filling and cook for 4-5 minutes. Next add in the tomatoes, spinach and basil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add salt and pepper to taste.
Next place equal amounts of the mixture into each zucchini, then spoon on 2-3 Tbs of marinara sauce onto each zucchini and place onto a large cookie sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes. *They will still have some texture. Overcooking them will result in mushy zucchini.
Once the zucchini boats are cooked pour on the cashew cream and eat as is, or you can even place them back into the oven on broil for an additional 2-3 minutes. Doing this makes the cashew cream extra thick and creamy.
Store any additional cashew cream in a mason jar in the fridge and use within 5-7 days.
Enjoy!
Look how thick the cashew cream is!
