Rush, rush, rush, rush. That has been the theme of my life over the past few weeks as we try to cram everything in before the holidays.

Don’t get me wrong, it has been lots of fun rushing. There have been dinners to attend, holiday parties to celebrate, gift exchanges with friends and plenty of shopping and present wrapping. But on top of all those fun holiday extras we’ve still had to keep up with the normal hustle and bustle of every day life. You know, like work and laundry and dinner. The less fun stuff.

The television played in the background as I cooked dinner the other night and Robert stopped in his tracks to stare at a Dominoes commercial. “Maybe we should just order pizza” he said.

Helpful Husband Hint: When your wife has been standing at the stove for an hour making you a home cooked meal, it really isn’t the best time to suggest ordering a pizza.

I glared at him over my bubbling pot and he quickly back tracked “I mean it would just be quick and easy and then you wouldn’t have to cook!”. Thankfully, once we sat down to eat, he raved over my enchilada casserole and forgot all about the pizza. Smart man.

I have to remind myself occasionally, or rather, my husband reminds me occasionally that there is always room for a little pizza. I love pizza, but no one would classify it a health food, so I do try to save my pizza indulgences for yummy, brick oven pies at our local pizzerias….not Dominoes. That being said, it’s so easy to opt for convenience and order in, especially this time of year when we are all running ragged.

Luckily, there are lots of yummy pizza-ish recipes floating around out there that will satisfy your craving and save you time in the kitchen. Let me add mine to the mix.

When a mid-week pizza craving hits, I often make what I call, Baked Portobello Pizzas. These are essentially baked portobello parmesans with pepperonis on top. They are delicious and really easy and definitely satisfy a pizza craving. They also require me to buy pepperoni which seems to come in ridiculously large packages. Or maybe they just seem ridiculously large since I can only use approximately three slices per portobello.

Either way, I HATE food waste and am anal about using up leftover ingredients. After three weeks in a row of portobello pizzas, I had to find another way to use up the remainder of the pepperoni, and thus, Zucchini Pizza Boats were born. Behold them in their cheesy, vegetabley, wanna be pizza glory.

They are full of pepperoni, much to Roberts delight, and free of crust and the majority of the cheese you find in a traditional pizza, much to my waistline’s delight. If you get a pizza craving in the middle of your last minute Christmas shopping, give these a try, they won’t disappoint! Hope everyone has a happy week before Christmas!

Zucchini Pizza Boats

Ingredients:

3 Medium Zucchini Squash

1 1/2 – 2 Cups Marinara Sauce, divided (Homemade or store bought, I mostly eye-balled the amounts)

1/2 Small Onion, chopped

1/2 5 oz Package of uncured Pepperoni, chopped

1/3 Cup Mozzarella Chesse, Shredded

1 Tsp Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Cut each Zucchini in half lengthwise and using a spoon or mellon baller, carefully scoop out the center of each zucchini, leaving about a 1/2 inch around the skin. Reserve the scooped portion and chop it roughly.
2. Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add 2/3 of your chopped zucchini and chopped pepperonis to the pan and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of sauce to pan and continue sauteing until all ingredients are warmed through.
3.  Spread 1/4 Cup of sauce on the bottom of a shallow baking dish and place your zucchini halves on top of it, cut side up.
4. Carefully fill each hallowed zucchini half with your onion, pepperoni mixture, distributing evenly.
5. Spoon a few spoonfulls of sauce over each stuffed zucchini half and then sprinkle with Mozzarella. Cover dish with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes until Zucchini are tender and cooked through. Broil for an additional 1-2 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Enjoy!