Two weekends in, I feel like I can declare this August downright leisurely.  Lily and Jake camped outside in the back yard this past Friday and they both survived the whole night without coming inside.  They didn't, however, survive without the iPad.  At one with nature, huh?  I didn't care; I was inside spread out over the entire bed watching old episodes of Suze Orman in peace.

Lily also had the chance to ride a horse (well, half horse, half pony) for the first time and solidified her love for everything equine.  Anything and everything in our house is now a pretend horse.   She was funny because she was SO excited and fidgety the whole way there and after she was done riding, but while she was with the horses she was calm and focused.  It was incredibly sweet.

 All summers should be so lovely.  

I call these 4-cheese pizza boats because that title fits, but the filling and marinara make it taste like lasagna to me.  Granted, cheese and marinara are the basis for a million different Italian dishes, so I could have called them zucchini stuffed shells for all it matters.  But pizza boats are a fairly common term, so I went with it.

I really liked this recipe.  I mean, there's four cheeses!  What's not to like?  Jake said that he liked the cheese mixture, but didn't like that you could taste the zucchini.  So, I should give a disclaimer: the zucchini isn't intended to be hidden!  If you hate zucchini, this probably isn't the dish for you.  But trust me, for normal people it's delicious.

Four-Cheese Pizza Zucchini Boats

3 fresh zucchini 1/4 cup marinara sauce 8 oz ricotta cheese 1 egg 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste Fresh basil or parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash the zucchini and slice it in half lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds.  Put about 1 heaping tablespoon of marinara onto each zucchini half and spread it out evenly.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, and garlic powder until combined.  Stir in the mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan.  Add salt and pepper to taste (I don't use much).  Spread evenly onto the 6 halves.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is warm and the zucchini is a little soft.  I then throw the broiler on for a minute to brown the top, but that's optional.

Sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve warm.

Source: Inspiration from Cooking Classy