Vegetarian Middle Eastern Stuffed Zucchini (Koosa Mahshi)
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
40 mins
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Cook Time
1 hr 15 mins
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Servings
6 people
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Calories
300 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Middle Eastern
Vegetarian Middle Eastern Stuffed Zucchini (Koosa Mahshi)
Description
The Vegetarian Middle Eastern Stuffed Zucchini, Koosa Mahshi, uses hollowed zucchinis and optional vegetables like bell peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes as edible vessels filled with a rice stuffing. The stuffing combines diced onion, crushed garlic, finely diced green chili, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and hot water cooked with Egyptian rice and fresh herbs such as dill, coriander, and parsley. The rice is simmered until halfway cooked before cooling and stuffing into the prepared vegetables.
The zucchinis are hollowed out gently to prevent splitting, with the insides reserved for other uses. Once stuffed, the vegetables are cooked in a tomato broth made with tomato paste, vegetable or chicken stock, strained tomatoes, dried mint, and salt. This results in tender vegetables with a savory, herbaceous rice filling infused with tomato and spice flavors. The dish reflects a careful layering of textures, with soft vegetables surrounding flavorful, aromatic rice.
This stuffed vegetable dish can be prepared ahead of time by making the stuffing and coring the vegetables a couple of days in advance or stuffing the zucchinis with partially cooked rice and refrigerating them until cooking. Koosa Mahshi is a wholesome recipe suited for those seeking vegetarian Middle Eastern fare that showcases fresh herbs and tomato-based seasoning.
Ingredients
For the vegetables- zucchini plus your choice of eggplant, bell peppers, potatoes and/ or tomatoes. I used:
- 12-14 small zucchini koosa
- 3 assorted bell pepper
- 3 whole tomatoes
- 4 potato
For the rice stuffing:
- 1 onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 green chili pepper seeds removed, finely diced
- 2 heaped tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can tomato sauce *see note
- 1 cup water hot
- 2 cups rice Egyptian variety, soaked 20 minutes, well strained
- 1 bunch each parsley finely chopped
- 1 bunch each dill
- 1 bunch each Coriander
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the tomato broth:
- 3 heaped tbsp tomato paste
- 2 vegetable stock or chicken stock cubes dissolved in 4 cups hot water
- 2 cups strained tomatoes tomato passata or pureed whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- salt to taste
Instructions
For the vegetables:
- Wash all the vegetables, then cut off the top of each and use a corer to remove the insides and hollow them out. Do it gently so as not to split the zucchini. Scrape the insides of the zucchini carefully, making room for the stuffing. Reserve the inside of the zucchini, you can store these in the fridge or freezer and use them for a lot of good recipes
To make the stuffing:
- Heat some oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and stir for a few minutes or until onions start to turn a light golden brown. Add the garlic and the chili pepper, cook for one minute or until fragrant, then add the tomato paste and stir.
- Add the tomato sauce and hot water, cumin, black pepper and salt, and allow mixture simmer for 10 minutes.
- After the mixture has simmered. add the strained Egyptian rice and the chopped herbs and allow rice to cook around 10 minutes or until halfway cooked. Remove mixture from stove and allow to cool.
Stuffing the vegetables:
- Stuff each cored vegetable with the cooled rice mixture, leaving about 1/4 of empty space since rice will expand further with cooking.
- Line a large saucepan with slices of tomatoes and potatoes to cover the bottom. Arrange stuffed vegetables on top of this layer, trying to keep the zucchini and other vegetables upright. Stuff them in close to each other. Keep this pot aside while you prepare the broth.
For the tomato broth:
- In a large bowl, mix together the tomato paste, the 2 cubes of stock dissolved in 4 cups of hot water, 2 cups of the pureed tomatoes or tomato passata, and dried mint. Taste to see if you need to add salt.
- Place the saucepan with the stuffed vegetables on the stove over medium high heat, and pour the tomato broth mixture all around the vegetables, until they are nearly submerged (3/4 of the way covered with tomato broth). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low to allow vegetables to simmer for 1-1.5 hours until vegetables are tender and cooked through.
- Portion stuffed vegetables into serving plates and lade extra tomato sauce from the saucepan. Some people like to eat this with yogurt. Enjoy!
Notes
- Prepare the rice stuffing and core zucchinis a couple of days before cooking to save time.
- You can stuff zucchinis with half-cooked rice and refrigerate overnight before cooking.
- Reserve and save zucchini insides for use in other recipes or freezing.
- This recipe is adapted from Afnan AlJoher.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 6people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 300 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 300kcal | 15% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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