Lamb-Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients
Stuffing
- 1/2 cup long-grain rice rinsed well
- 1/2 to 1 lb ground lamb or beef
- 1/3 cup parsley chopped
- 1/3 cup dill chopped
- 1 tbsp butter softened
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
Zucchini
- 4 large and firm tomatoes divided
- 1 onion sliced into rounds
- 2 1/2 lbs medium-sized zucchini lightly peeled
- 1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions
Make the Stuffing
- In a large bowl, combine the stuffing ingredients of rice, ground lamb, fresh parsley, dill, cumin, turmeric, and salt and pepper. Mix by hand to combine.
Prepare the Zucchini and Tomato
- Remove the top of 3 tomatoes and remove the core to hollow out the tomatoes making room for the stuffing. With a knife, remove the very top of the zucchini, then cut each zucchini in half to make shorter zucchini for stuffing. Hollow out the zucchini to make room for the stuffing.
- Insert your corer about 3/4 of the way into the zucchini, making sure not to poke the bottoms. Twist the corer and pull out the zucchini cores or hearts. Do this a few times, and gently scrape the sides of the zucchini until you have hollowed each out making room for the stuffing. You’ll want to leave about 1/4 inch rim of zucchini.
Cook
- Using your hands, gently stuff the hollowed tomatoes with the rice stuffing. Then loosely stuff the zucchini with the rice stuffing about 3/4 of the way (do not over-stuff or crowd the rice stuffing in the zucchini or it will not cook well).
- Arrange the stuffed tomatoes in the center of the cooking pan, then add the stuffed zucchini (stuffed side up) around them. Tilt the zucchini a little, this helps them cook nicely through using less liquid. Now add the tomato sauce and water. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
- Place the pan on the stove and cook on medium-high heat until the liquid starts boiling. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for for 45 minutes until the zucchini is tender and the rice stuffing is fully cooked.