Mediterranean Summer Squash Boats With Smashed Chickpeas & Almond Cheese Crumbles
/Sunny yellow summer squash are stuffed with a Mediterranean inspired smashed chickpea filling and topped with sliced kalamata olives, fresh herbs, and almond cheese crumbles made from leftover homemade almond milk pulp.
When summer squash made their first appearance in our CSA produce box this past week, I knew right away that I wanted to enjoy these golden beauties roasted and stuffed with a chickpea filling.
Stuffed summer squash and zucchini are sometimes referred to as "zucchini boats" given their long hollow shape. They're so much fun to make and to eat! You can use any kind of summer squash you'd like including the classic zucchini and other colorful and striped varieties.
Slice your squash in half the long way and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. You can save the seeds to add to smoothies or place them in a freezer bag to make your own vegetable broth. The seeds contain a lot of nutrients, so don't miss out!
The more you scoop out, the less stable these boats will become, so only scoop out the seeds and be sure to keep lots of the fleshy part of the squash in there.
To make the smashed chickpea filling:
- Drain and rinse 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas and place them in a medium sized bowl.
- Add in 1/2 cup pasta sauce of choice, I really like Engine 2 brand oil-free tomato basil marinara for this recipe, and add in 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast.
- Smash it all together using a potato masher or a fork, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Making vegan cheese from leftover almond milk pulp:
I've been making my own almond milk for the past few months now, so lately I've been finding myself with lots of leftover almond pulp. I've tried several almond pulp recipes, from cookies to crackers to muffins, all of which have never really worked out for me. Almond pulp varies so much in moisture content based on how much liquid you're able squeeze out of it when making almond milk, that it can be difficult to use in baked goods which require very specific amounts of liquid.
Instead of baking it into something, I prefer to use it raw and make it into a crumbly nut cheese, which is very similar to Cotija cheese or an extra crumbly feta. It's salty, savory, and makes the perfect cheese topping on so many of my favorite meals. The slight bit of moisture in the pulp allows it to stick together and clump perfectly.
I'm really impressed with how much this tastes like cheese, and while it's not white like traditional cow's milk cheese, you can make this with blanched or slivered almonds, which have had the skin removed, and then it will be perfectly white and the look of it will be even more similar.
If you don't make your own almond milk and don't have any almond pulp, you can still make this recipe by using almond flour. You just need to add in water or more lime juice a few teaspoons at a time until it starts to form small clumps.
To make the almond pulp vegan cheese crumbles-
Ingredients:
- 1 cup almond pulp, or the pulp leftover from making 1 liter of almond milk (1 cup raw almonds, plus 4 cups water), or use 1 cup of almond flour.
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, or lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions:
Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir together using a fork to mash the ingredients until well-mixed and crumbly in texture. If using almond flour, add more water or lime juice a teaspoon at a time until small clumps start to form. Taste and add more salt or garlic and mustard powder if desired.
This nut cheese is best served on top of food and kept mostly dry. If added to a salad and tossed with a wet dressing, it will turn into an almond paste which you may or may not want on your salad. I enjoy it on top of tacos, pasta, avocado toast, and grain/legume bowls.
Assemble & bake:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees, or skip this step if you want to make these in an air fryer.
Scoop 1/4 of the chickpea mixture into each squash half, then place on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until the zucchinis are tender and the mixture is browned. If using an air fryer, place the stuffed squash halves into the air fryer basket and cook them in the air fryer for 15 minutes at 380 degrees. Depending on the size of your air fryer you might need to do this in batches.
Remove the squash from the oven or air fryer and top with sliced kalamata olives, raw almond cheese, and fresh chopped herbs.
Summer squash and zucchini have a very low calorie density, so I find it's best to think of these as a snack and not a full meal. Though, they could be a full meal if you doubled the portion size and served them over a bed of fresh greens.
Have you ever tried squash or zucchini boats before?
If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear how it turns out. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think of it!
