Zuccoti

Zuccotti – A Low Carb Manicotti

Manicotti is crazy important in my house. It was one of those dishes that I revised before ever making and it was an instant hit. However, I hate making it. It is messy and time consuming.

I only made it for special occasions, especially my first born’s birthday. There are no parties for birthdays in our house. The kids get a present and they get to pick their homemade dinner and dessert. There have been times a party would have been cheaper and less work. For example, manicotti was most commonly served with oven fried chicken, chocolate on chocolate cake and homemade coffee ice cream.

There are no birthdays for a couple weeks but I’m missing my angel, so I broke out the notepad and pans. I hope you like it.

Serves 6. Per Serving
511 Calories and 16 g Carbohydrates

Ingredients
½ cup Salt (optional)
Large bowl of water (optional)
6 Zucchini
1 pound ground sausage (mild, medium or hot)
4.5 ounces sliced black olives
2 large eggs
1 cup Ricotta Cheese
Garlic, Basil, and black pepper to taste
1 ½ cups Marinara or sauce of your choice
2 cups Shredded Mozzarella

Cut ends off and peel zucchini down to white. Core zucchini. I found the best way to do this was the saw thingy that came out of one of those jack o lantern kits.

This next part is totally optional. Mix the salt and water together and brine the zucchini for half an hour. Let drain completely on towels while you prepare the rest.
Crumbled, brown and drain the sausage. Drain the olives.
Mix olives, sausage, ricotta, eggs and seasoning in a bowl.
Stuff zucchini with mixture.
Lay stuffed zucchini in a lightly sprayed 9 * 13 pan.
Distribute leftover mixture evenly along the tops of your stuffed zucchini.
Top with sauce and cheese.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.
Serve.

We served ours with Salad and a low carb cheese bread that is just amazing.