# Zuchinni skins not getting soft/tender?



## legend_018 (Aug 22, 2011)

ok I have some zucchini boats (all stuffed with a sausage stuffing mixture) in the oven. I've done it 2 times over the last month as I love this stuffing recipe made with collard green pesto.

Anyways, this time the bottoms of some of the zucchini halfs "filled with filling" are not getting soft. The green part/the skin part.  One zuchinni was a little older than the other one and I noticed it was hard to cut when I was slicing it prior to stuffing them. The other one was very easy to cut.

It's been in the oven for almost an hour. Am I wasting my time keeping them in there waiting for them to get soft?  It's just the green part of those zucchini's still hard.


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## blissful (Aug 22, 2011)

There are certain varieties of zucchini that have very hard green skins, and others are soft. 

We've bought zucchini from a farmer's market and they were impossibly hard. We've grown zucchini and we must have grown the soft green skin variety. The best way to check them when buying them is to push your fingernail into the skin right next to the stem end, and you'll know which variety you are buying. It also seems the hard green variety are darker green than the soft green variety.


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## legend_018 (Aug 22, 2011)

I gave up, the inside has cooked long enuf. You can bite through it but it's still hard. something about the skins of this zucchini I guess. Maybe a reheat later in the microwave will soften it up. I'll just have to eat it up until the final green skin part on the bottom.


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## Katie H (Aug 22, 2011)

Did you parcook the zucchini "boat" before you stuffed it?  I do and my stuffed zucchini is always tender.


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## Snip 13 (Aug 22, 2011)

Katie H said:


> Did you parcook the zucchini "boat" before you stuffed it?  I do and my stuffed zucchini is always tender.



I would do what Katie suggested. I also precook mine. I steam them to prevent them from getting watery then stuff them, it also makes it easier to remove some flesh to make space for the filling


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## legend_018 (Aug 22, 2011)

Thanks, ya I havent' had a problem yet this year.


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## CharlieD (Aug 22, 2011)

I do not like zucchini skins, so I always peel mine when cooking. Whatever you make from it tastes so much more hm...; well the only word I can think of is gentle.


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## CharlieD (Aug 22, 2011)

Maybe it’s tender that I am thinking about, not gentle.


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## Claire (Aug 22, 2011)

You also can partially peel them when preparing.  Just use your peeler to take off a strip here and there, aiming to keep a strip on the sides to hold the "boat" together.  As with cucumbers, the toughness of the peel sometimes depends on the weather, and they can be tough or tender.  Just take off a strip here and there, it will look decorative.


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