This recipe for beef-stuffed zucchini is a traditional Roman dish that my mother used to prepare when I lived at home. She was born in a little Umbrian town called Calvi, where she lived until her mid thirties. In the early sixties, mom and aunt Pina, her older sister, decided to leave Calvi and move to Rome looking for better opportunities. There they got a three bedroom apartment and started a bed & breakfast for extended stays. My father who was working in Rome at the time was looking for a place to live. You know where this story is going, right? He rented a room for the duration of his contract and the rest is history 🙂
When preparing these beef-stuffed zucchini make sure you are diligent cleaning the zucchinis because these vegetables have the tendency to have soil embedded in the skin. As for the zucchini flesh I usually throw it away unless I remember to use it in minestrone soup before it goes bad. There is a recipe for a zucchini cake I want to try one of these days.
Beef-stuffed zucchinis are great served over a bed of white rice.
- 4 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 1½ cup of boiling water
- ¼ cup of minced onions
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add onions and cook, stirring, until they are soft and translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Then add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Lastly, add tomato paste, water and parsley.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes.
- If too thick add ¼ cup of water at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- 1¼ pounds ground beef
- 6 medium zucchinis
- 1 whole egg
- 1 pressed garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon white rice flour
- 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- olive oil
- Preheat oven to 375 F˚.
- Soak zucchini in cold water for 15 minutes to remove any soil embedded in the skin.
- Rinse the zucchini under running water, rubbing briskly with your hands or a vegetable brush if you have one.
- Trim away the ends and cut each zucchini in half crosswise.
- Using a zucchini corer, scoop out the zucchini flesh. It's up to you how much flesh you want to leave, usually I leave about ¼ inch all-around and I open both side of each half. The left over zucchini flesh can be discarded or used in another recipe.
- In a container mix well the ground beef with the other ingredients except the olive oil.
- Smear the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch glass baking dish with olive oil.
- With clean hands stuff zucchini halves with beef-mixture.
- Place stuffed zucchini halves in baking dish.
- Season zucchinis tops and bottoms with salt and oil.
- Make small size meat balls with any left over ground beef. Place in baking dish next to the stuffed zucchini.
- Pour tomato sauce (recipe above) over zucchini.
- Cover dish with foil and place in oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover and rotate zucchini.
- Bake until zucchini is cooked through but still slightly firm (test with a fork).
- Serve zucchini halves with tomato sauce.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a Reply