Stuffed zucchini with rice and ground meat in a lemon sauce is a great dish. It makes use of the wonderful choices of vegetables available to the Greek cook. Cooked in the oven or in a pot, this is another great meal to satisfy your urge for flavor explosion. This dish with the lemon sauce and zucchini (squash) is made traditionally in this manner.
Stuffed zucchini is always done with rice and meat. Yes, Greeks choose to stuff vegetables in various different ways, but this is one of the classics. It allows the taste buds to enjoy the aroma of freshness in the vegetable. Then, to taste the lemon sauce, which makes it all a perfect combination.
How to make stuffed zucchini
Wash and pat dry the whole zucchini. Cut in half. Not lengthwise, but the width of it. Trim the top to remove the stem, but do not cut deeper. Hollow out a medium to large sized zucchini, so that one end is open to stuff in the filling. Discard the zucchini seeds and scrapings. Many use the scrapings and mix it with cheese to stuff zucchini. That’s a totally different taste, but try it if you like. Anyway, its easier to hollow out the zucchini carefully with a knife and a spoon. Avoid breaking the sides of the zucchini.
Prepare the filling. It really is pretty fast. That is the beauty of this recipe. Stuff the zucchini halves with the filling. Two options exist on how to cook the stuffed zucchini : baked in the oven or boiled in a pot. The stuffed halves are positioned to be standing upright, and stuffed end up. This is to avoid spilling over, and to allow the rice to absorb the moisture from the juices below. Equally important, is how it is served. Place the zucchini on a platter. Spread the egg lemon sauce called “avgolemono” on top. This is the special ingredient that ties together all the flavors to make this dish one of my favorites.
What is Avgolemono? Avgolemono is a lemon-egg sauce. Made by whisking egg yolks and lemon juice, then slowly tempering it with hot broth until it thickens.
This traditional Greek dish is commonly served as a main course. With a great salad and bread is a perfect meal for the family!
Stuffed zucchini with rice and meat
Ingredients
Zucchini Stuffing
- 10 medium size zucchini
- 1/2 kilo lean ground beef
- 1 red onion
- 1/3 bunch parsley
- 1/3 bunch dill
- 2 tbsp dry mint
- 8 tbsp medium grain rice
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 1/2 liter water
Lemon Sauce (Avgolemono)
- 80 grams olive oil
- 80 grams all purpose flour
- 700 ml water
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 2 lemons, juice of
- 2 lemons, zest
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tbsp dill
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp butter
Instructions
Cooking the zucchinis
- Cut off the stem and trim the bottoms of the zucchinis. Rinse them well and then cut them in half about 2,5 inch / 7cm each piece.
- Using a knife and spoon or an apple corer remove most of the insides of the zucchini. This will leave you with a hollow zucchini, one end open, ready to be stuffed.
- Prepare the filling in a bowl by mixing together the ground beef, red onion, parsley, dill, rice, and the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season the mixture with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Knead the mixture for 2 minutes.
- Start filling the zucchinis by pressing the ground beef mixture into the hole with your finger. Press to make sure there aren't any air gaps left inside the zucchini.
- Place the stuffed zucchinis tightly together, standing upright, in a pot or a baking pan.
- Place 1/2 liter of water to boil. Add the beef bouillion cube to the water to dissolve.
- Pour the beef broth into the pot or the baking pan with the stuffed zucchini.
- Place the pot on medium to low heat and cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Keep an eye on the pot so it does not go dry. Add hot water if needed. If baking in the oven, place into a baking pan tightly together and pour in the beef broth. Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 45 minutes or until tender, oven at 180 celsius or 360 farenheit.
Egg lemon sauce (Avgolemono)
- Place a pot over medium heat.
- Add the olive oil.
- Add the flour and whisk. Sauté until it turns light golden.
- Add the 700 ml water in batches while whisking continuously. Add the beef bouillon cube and mix until the sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, egg yolks, butter, nutneg, dill and parsley. Mix thoroughly.
- Serve stuffed zucchini with the egg lemon sauce, fresh herbs and lemon wedges.
