Mellas Family Lamb Stuffed Zucchini (Koosa)

5 Reviews

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 1 hr 25 min
Ready In: 1 hr 55 min

“This recipe is a great way to use up that giant zucchini lurking in your garden. Early season squash are best as the skin is tender and the flesh is delicate. Older zucchini still taste great, you just may not be able to eat the skin. ” - by blancdeblanc

Directions

Cut each zucchini in half and use a thin, sharp knife to hollow out each section, removing the seeds and leaving a round 1/2 inch shell.
Combine tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, 3/4 cup water, and cinnamon in a large, oven-safe Dutch oven. Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook until thick, about 20 minutes.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet. Stir in onion; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Combine cooked onion, lamb, rice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 cup water, dried mint, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Lightly stuff lamb mixture into hollowed out zucchini sections. Place stuffed zucchini in simmering tomato sauce.
Cover pot and place in preheated oven. Cook until the rice is soft, about 1 hour. If sauce is very thin, simmer on the stove top until desired consistency. To serve, slice into 1 inch rounds and top with tomato sauce.

Reviews (5)

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AZDewalt

Oct. 13, 2009

"This is a great recipe, thank you for sharing it! I made it as written the first time and it was wonderful. The second time I decided to tweak the recipe to my tastes a bit more. Like the previous re..." See moreviewer I omitted the salt (canned tomatoes typically have enough for my tastes) and used fresh mint. I cooked the tomato sauce as advised but added a bit of white wine and garlic. For the stuffing, rather than cook the meat and rice in the oven I added oil to the sauté pan with garlic, onion, and uncooked rice. This gives the rice a head start on cooking and a lot more flavor. I sautéed all until everything browned a bit and added the lamb which I sautéed until cooked. I used a slotted spoon to remove the mixture and stuff into the zucchini to reduce some of the grease. The final cook time for the stuffed zucchini was 30 minutes. My boyfriend indicated this was a “keeper” recipe."

BigShotsMom

Sep. 21, 2009

"This took care of a monster zucchini someone gave me. I made 3 very minor changes. First, I eliminated the salt for dietary reasons and to my taste it wasn't missed. Second, I didn't realize I had ..." See moreno tomato paste until I was well into preparing this so I just cooked the sauce down to thicken it. Third, I used fresh mint instead of dried because I had it on hand. The cinnamon adds a lovely flavor and I think next time I will increase it slightly. Thanks for a tasty dish."

Joseem44

Aug. 9, 2011

"My Husband is Lebanese so I was a bit intimidated to try this recipe...how can I compete with his mother? well, I am happy to report that I passed with flying colors. here is what I customized: I adde..." See mored 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon; I used lean ground beef instead of lamb; i sauteed the onion, and then added the rice to the pan, to give a bit more flavor. I added a splash of white wine. i added fresh mint instead of dried, because it grows like weed in my garden. While it was cooking, the smell alone was enough to make us all salivate, and the end result was spectacular! comfort food at its best! thank you for the great recipe!!!"

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