C and I argued pretty hard about what to call these. When I served it, I announced, “It’s pizza stuffed summer squash!” and he rolled and rolled his eyes. He said this was not pizza. Because there’s ground beef. How does that make sense?
“You are lying to your blog readers,” he said. Nuh uh. It has marinara sauce and cheese. Isn’t that all you need for the pizza flavor? I know it’s been forever since I had a real pizza, but it’s my recipe and my blog so I do what I want. It’s my version of pizza, so I win.
You are probably like, “Great story, bro…” so let’s change the subject and talk about how cute these round summer squash are, amirighhh? This recipe will definitely work with other types of squash but you just can’t repeatedly say, “Ohemgee, I just can’t with these!” while your make them. And that’s just no fun.
You can use this recipe as a base for various toppings. Hate olives? Top with mushrooms and pepperoni. Make it a Hawaiian with ham and pineapple pieces. I love it because it’s easy to get creative and you can’t really mess it up!
Ingredients
- 2 round summer squash
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 8 oz ground beef
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2/3 cup marinara sauce, sugar free
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 2 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1/4 cup olives, sliced
- cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut both squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, leaving 1/2 inch of flesh on the skin, and place on a greased baking sheet rind side down. Save the flesh for another use.
- Heat coconut oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Add onions, salt, and pepper, and saute until soft.
- Add ground beef, salt, and pepper, and stir until almost cooked through.
- Add garlic, marinara sauce, oregano, basil, and thyme, and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle in arrowroot starch and stir until the sauce thickens.
- Fill the ground beef mixture into the squash.
- Top with cheese if using, and sliced olives.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until everything is cooked through and cheese is melted and bubbling.
I definitely live by the “it’s my blog so I’ll do what I want” rule. 🙂