Stuffed courgettes with Sausage Meat and Cheese (Stuffed Zucchini)

Prepping

1. Line a large baking tray with baking paper/parchment paper. Depending on the size of your trays, you may need two trays to accommodate the eight courgette halves.
2. Using a large, sharp knife, carefully halve the courgettes lengthways.Tip: Since most courgettes are not perfectly straight and may have a slight bend toward the tip, for evenly cut halves, turn the courgette so the bendy side faces downward before slicing. This will give you two mirror-image halves.
3. Using a melon baller or a spoon, scrape out as much of the courgette flesh as possible.Avoid scraping too close to the sides, as you want the courgettes to maintain their 'frame' and act as a sturdy shell for the filling.
4. Set the courgette flesh aside for now. We will use it as part of the filling later. If you have very large chunks of flesh, dice it smaller.
5. De-skin the sausages by scoring each sausage lengthways with the tip of a knife and then simply peel off the skins.
6. Break the sausage meat up with a fork. Set aside.
7. In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, grated cheese, herbs and salt. Give it a stir to combine.

Making the stuffing

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until they become soft and translucent.
3. Add the garlic and sugar and fry for an additional 2 minutes until the sugar is melted and the onions are lightly caramelised.
4. Add the sausage meat and tomato paste, and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat until the sausage loses its pinkness and develops a crumb-like texture.
5. Add the scooped-out courgette flesh to the frying pan.
6. With the heat still on medium-low, stir-fry the mixture for about 5 minutes until the courgette flesh is soft. Using your spatula, break the courgette pieces into smaller chunks as you stir-fry the mixture.
7. Add the warm sausage mixture to the bowl of breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs and salt. Stir the ingredients until everything is well combined.

Fill the courgettes

1. Space out the courgette halves on the baking tray (or trays), leaving enough space between each for even heat distribution. Equally fill the courgette halves with the stuffing mixture.
2. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top of each courgette half.
3. Transfer the trays to the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes. Cover the trays loosely with foil and continue cooking for an additional 20 minutes or until the courgette shells are soft and the stuffing browned and sizzling.
4. Serve piping hot with a side salad or alongside your main dish. Optionally, sprinkle over some freshly grated parmesan for an extra cheesy kick.