Zucchini Hasselback

I recently stumbled upon this article on The Huffington Post about the health benefits of zucchini. It was one of those side bar links which invite you to open them and then that leads to another dozen side bar links. I forgot what the original article was that I was reading. But it drew my attention as I had cooked a lot with zucchini this summer and it reminded me about the zucchini hasselback that I had made. Fortunately I had taken a few pictures of it!  I had also tried other recipes with zucchini like zucchini spaghetti and lasagna substituting the real pasta with zucchini. Both the dishes tasted good and are much healthier than eating the real pasta but I missed the real taste and feel of pasta.
But I was the happy with zucchini hasselback. Here I did not really miss the potatoes and with the flavors of garlic and cheese, this dish was delicious. I did not over cook the zucchini and there was still a bite to it with the cheese nicely melted and edges slightly browned.

This recipe is easy, delicious, healthy and practically guilt free

I served it with garlic bread.

Ingredients

4  zucchini
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Mozzarella string cheese (or any cheese you have at hand)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste





Method

Make garlic oil by adding 2 cloves of mashed or grated garlic in olive oil and heat on low medium heat for about 5 minutes. The garlic should not burn. Once oil is almost ready to boil remove from heat and let it cool completely.


Wash and dry the zucchini
Make slits in the zucchini, keeping the bottom intact.
Brush the zucchini with garlic oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper over it.
Slice mozzarella cheese and insert in the slits of the zucchini.
Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and put it in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook till the cheese melts (about 10 minutes).