Stuffed Zucchinis

I like stuffed bell peppers but somehow, very rarely do stuffed zucchinis.

At the supermarket last week, I saw some fat zucchinis and thought, this might be the opportunity to make stuffed zucchinis instead of stuffed bell peppers. Found a great Turkish stuffed zucchini recipe but alas, I needed some special turkish cheese and I wasn’t about to make a trip down to town just to get the cheese. So I settled on ground beef. Zucchinis stuffed with ground beef has probably been done a zillion times but I decided I would do this out of my head. Turned out good and simple and hubby has requested that this be made more often. 🙂

Stuffed Zucchinis

So if I’m going to make it again, I’d better write the recipe down somewhere … like here.

 

Stuffed Zucchinis with Beef

Serves 2

2 big fat zucchinis. Try to get ones that a uniformly wide.

300 gr minced beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

½ can chopped tomatoes

½ tsp mediterranean herbs eg. oregano, thyme or basil

salt, pepper

grated cheese e.g. parmesan, pecorino, gouda, mozzarella

 

Wash the zucchinis, put in a saucepan, cover with water and boil for 10 min. The zucchinis should be just tender. They will get softer when they are baked later on.

Drain the water and leave the zucchinis to cool.

In another saucepan, heat the olive oil and glaze the onions. Add the mince and brown all over. Season with salt and pepper and then add the chopped tomatoes. Add only enough tomatoes so that the meat is covered but not too liquid. You want the filling more dry than watery. Stir in about 1/2 tsp of your choice of dried herbs (1 Tbsp if fresh, chopped), cover the pan and let simmer on low for about 20 min., checking occasionally to see that the filling is not too dry. If so, add a bit more tomato sauce. At the end of the cooking time, adjust the seasoning and let the mixture cool a little.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.

Now back to the zucchinis … Slice them lengthwise in half and if you like, trim the ends, otherwise this will be done by the diner. Using a small teaspoon, scoop out the inside flesh making sure the edges are not too thin. You don’t want the shell too thin and fragile. To make it easier to scoop out the flesh, score the inside of the zucchini with a knife, being careful not to rip the sides. Place the shells in an oven-proof dish. The zucchinis will give off liquid during baking. Sprinkle the shells with salt and pepper.

Zucchini shells

Fill the shells with the meat sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese and bake for about 20 min or till the cheese is nice and brown.

Serve with a side salad and you have a nice, light lunch, low in carbs.

Enjoy!

Print this recipe – Stuffed Zucchinis with Beef

Zucchini fritters, vegetable fritters or just plain fritters

I am now involved in doing the translation work for a lovely food and music blog – Bouillon de Notes – which combines the passions of two bloggers, a very talented husband and wife team from France. The last recipe I did for them was on Zucchini Blossom Fritters. At the time of writing, it hasn’t been posted yet.

Last night, I took stock of what was left in my refrigerator, and what did I find – a zucchini at the point of going soft and the skin beginning to get wrinkled. Time for action!  The zucchini blossom fritters recipe I translated gave me an idea and blossoms or no blossoms, I decided to try making my own low carb fritters.

Surprise, surprise – this turned out simple and quick and would definitely make a delicious appetizer. Serve them plain, sprinkled with chilli flakes or with a dip!

Obviously this recipe can be used for any quick-cooking vegetables or even a mix of them. Just make sure that the vegetable pieces are big enough so that it is easier to work with the batter. I can imagine that strips would be difficult to fry.

You could also just drop spoonfuls of batter into the oil and fry till golden. Use them as decoration for other dishes.

Before going further, I have to point out that I am not on a low carb diet because I am trying to loose weight. I am on a low carb diet because I need to cut down on carbohydrates. So this may be low carb but it is high oil. I very rarely do anything deep fried but I must admit, there are some things which taste nice deep fried. If one is sensible about portions, I see no harm in enjoying deep fried stuff once in a while . Also, if you make sure your oil is hot enough, your food will brown quickly meaning you can take them out quickly and they won’t be swimming and soaking in cooking oil for longer than necessary.

Low Carb Zucchini Fritters
(quantity makes enough to coat 1 large zucchini)

1 large zucchini sliced into rounds or other vegetables cut into pieces
1 egg
300 ml cold water
100 gr gluten
salt

Mix everything together till smooth. Coat your vegetables and fry till golden.

Tips for success:

Since this is not a normal batter, there are some things you will need to take note of to ensure success. The batter does not adhere to the zucchini slices. If you pick up the slices from the batter with tongs, the batter will slide off leaving you with an uncoated zucchini slice! So use a tablespoon to scoop out the slices one-by-one with some batter and put them gently into the hot oil, ensuring that the slices are well-spaced.  Depending on how much batter was on your spoon, the batter under the zucchini will start to sizzle and spread. You could leave it as is and cook further, resulting in bigger fritters or you could use a spoon to flip the spread out bits over on top of the zucchini to cover it up. Don’t put too much batter on, otherwise, the fritters won’t be crispy. Experiment!

And don’t let your batter stand too long. The gluten will bloat up and become gluey.

Print this recipe – Low Carb Zucchini Fritters