Behind The Eight Balls

I should try to grow these. Every summer, I look forward to these little round zucchinis and only find them every now and then. There's something playful and funny about the shape - it's really the only difference between these and the long ones.

Normally, I cut off the tops, remove the innards, mix said innards with other tasty things and stuff them right back in. This time, a neighbor had given me a small summer squash and a tiny new zucchini, so I used those instead of the innards to make a stuffing.

Cut the top quarter off the eightball squashes and hollow out the body with a spoon, leaving about 1/2-1/4 inch thickness in the walls and bottom. Chop a small zucchini and a small summer squash (crookneck). Mince garlic a couple of cloves of garlic and about half a small onion, lightly sauté in olive oil with Italian herb seasoning warming in the same pan. Add the finely chopped squash cubes and cook for about five minutes, until the zucchini is even brighter green and the summer squash is still a sunny yellow. Off the heat, add a handful of grated ParmReg and stir it around to mix it in, then stuff the mixture into the hollowed eightball zucchinis. Top with the stem end caps. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about an hour, basting once with butter or pan juices; I usually stick them in the oven with a chicken and they finish roasting at about the same time.

Of course, you can play around with the stuffing - next time, I'm going to add some Sartain's Menu sauce for fun. Italians would probably add tomato sauce or the tomatoes themselves. Some like to mix in bread crumbs or cubes. You might want to try different cheeses. Zucchinis are so bland that they lend themselves to embellishment and experimentation. Knock yourself out.