Stuffed Zucchini

Wow! I made it through all the cookbook review recipes from “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi and “Good Fish” by Becky Selengut from the 4th Annual Volk/Watson Christmas Extravaganza this year. This is the last one! Well, there will be one more recipe from the party, but since I forgot to put out the homemade peanut butter cups at the actual party, and the recipe didn’t come from one of these books, it doesn’t count, I don’t think. I never thought I’d see myself write that peanut butter cups don’t count…Shocking.

So to sum this recipe up and put aside this whole Christmas project, and do what I was supposed to do when I received the books from their publishers (review them), here’s what I thought of this recipe for winter-spiced stuffed zucchini:

1. The flavours are fresh and bright on day 1 but if you leave these guys to sit overnight and serve them on day 2 (the recipes says they can be refrigerated served served cold) they loose a lot of their zing, and kind of end up with a hollow taste. So serve them still warm from the oven.
2. There was WAY too much filling for the zucchini! The rice overflowed and turned what could have been a gorgeous presentation into a casserole of something that sort of looked like spiced rice, not pretty logs. Next time I make the recipe I’ll under-stuff them and cook the extra rice separately.
3. Cooking these in a large pot on the stovetop is silly. The zucchini will most likely burn, and how many zucchini have you met that have rounded edges like the sides of a pot? You’ll be swearing that all the zucchini just don’t fit. Or just plan well – 3 medium-sized zucchini need to fit lengthwise in a saucepan. If you’re not good at math or you foresee disaster (aka, you’re as incompetent as me), just bake these in the oven in a rectangular dish and thank me when the recipe works out and you’re not scrubbing pans for two days. 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes instead of the same amount of time in a pot)
4. The recipe doesn’t call for enough water. Or maybe it does, but if you have the heat up even a little too high you’ll burn your zucchini. You’re supposed to baste the rice as it cooks, and even though it’s short-grain, you’re probably going to end up with too much water cooking off and, yet again, burning the zucchini bottoms.
5. I love the spices! Cooling mint with heating cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Plus savoury nuts, fresh parsley, and sweet currants. It’s a flavour powerhouse. Oh! And lemon juice for zing at the end. That’s key.

That being said, I love this recipe. Next time I’ll bake the zucchini, use less rice, and serve it the day-of.

Stuffed Zucchini with Currants, Pine Nuts, Mint, and Allspice

1 medium onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

2/3 cup short-grain rice (this is NOT Basmati or Jasmine. Make sure you use short-grain)

2 tbsp currants (if you can’t find currants, raisins are okay, but it’s a bit different)

1 tbsp pine nuts

2 tbsp chopped parsley, plus an extra tbsp or two to garnish

1/2 tsp dried mint (or 2 tsp fresh mint, diced)

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3 tbsp lemon juice (or more to taste)

3 medium zucchini (carefully chosen…see above)

3/4 cup boiling water (I’d say go for 1 cup boiling water and pour until just before the water reaches the top of the zucchini, but doesn’t touch the rice at all. If you need to move the tray you don’t want the water to overflow into the rice, so pour it in only once the pan is in the oven or the pot is on the burner, as long as you don’t burn yourself that way. Or pour 3/4 cup boiling water in as the recipes calls for, but reserve 1/4 cup boiling water to add as needed).

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)

Directions:

The first part is easy. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat for about 5 or so minutes until soft. Then add the rice, currants, pine nuts, parsley, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and half the lemon juice. Cook (and stir occasionally) on low for 5 more minutes. Now the filling’s done.

Now it’s time to make zucchini boats. Recruit artistic types for this step if you’re not channeling your inner Donatello today. Cut the edges off the zucchini and halve them lengthwise. then use a spoon to scoop out the flesh, leaving the ends complete so no filling can spill out or water can get in to your zucchini boats.

Find a baking dish large enough but small enough so that the zucchini boats can stay “standing up” – aka “not capsized”. If a pot works better and you feel like cooking these on the stove, then be my guest.

Don’t put the zucchini in the pan yet, though. Stuff them now with the filling (the recipe says to stuff them once they’re in the pan, but then filling gets everywhere and it’s a real mess, so stuff them in advance and then transfer them to a pan. Just make sure you choose your pan or pot in advance). Now put them in the pan and pour the boiling water, 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (what’s leftover), the sugar, salt, and pepper around the zucchini so the liquid is lower than the zucchini and when you transfer the dish to the oven you won’t spill water on-board the zucchini boats. Top with a layer of aluminum foil or a tight-fitting lid and place in the preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30-40 minutes, until rice is cooked. My rice didn’t want to cook. You’re supposed to baste the rice occasionally with the water, but why didn’t I do that in the first place? And each time you take the lid off you’re letting steam evaporate, and that’s the number 1 no-no when making rice! So what you should do is pour the boiling water into the pan but also gently pour some on top of the spiced rice, and baste maybe 2 or 3 times, potentially adding more boiling water if you’re afraid there’s not going to be enough and the zucchini will start to burn and the rice won’t cook. Or simmer for 30-40 minutes over medium-low heat (like you’re cooking rice), basting rice occasionally.

The water is supposed to almost all evaporate, and that’s a tricky point to find, so I’d rather have a little extra sitting around – a leftover pool, if you will, of what once was an ocean.

Allow to cool slightly and enjoy fresh. Sprinkle with more lemon juice and a tiny bit of sugar if they taste hollow from the cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. But they shouldn’t. It really is mostly a great recipe. You just need to get to know your stove and your oven and make this lots to get used to it. The rest is simple. It’s just spiced rice, after all. Delicious spiced rice.