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| Stuffed zucchini au gratin |
My online friends know me for having a passion for strawberries. However, do they know that I also have a passion for zucchini (courgettes) that I also grow in the garden ? Not sure...
I created a vegetable patch in the garden: zucchini and strawberries are my favorite things to grow. Besides them, I also grow some other veggies and have some fruit trees such as a grape vine and cherry tree.
Last zucchini harvest wasn't great because of the huge number of rainy days - it has been literaly pouring from the 1st of January till the 31st of December here and, therefore, the crop was very poor.
So I ended up buying zucchini from the supermarket and not long ago, got inspired with rounded courgettes (Ronde Niche zucchini, I think) which are quite easy to fill with meat and/or other veggies. Their flesh is tender and easy to remove using a spoon.
Here's my recipe for zucchini stuffed with meat.
Ingredients (serves 4):
Directions:
Preparing the zucchini for stuffing:
Cut the top of the zucchini
Using a tablespoon, remove the flesh from the courgette
Preparing the stuffing:
Dice the zucchini flesh
Mix together with minced meat
Add salt and pepper to taste as well as herbs
Fill the empty zucchini with the mixture
Sprinkle grated cheese on the zucchini and place on an oven plate.
Pre-heat the oven to 300°F and bake the stuffed courgettes for 40 minutes.
Using a fork, make sure that the meat/courgette mixture is well cooked. In case it is not ready, let the zucchini for some more time.
Once the zucchini are ready, place on a plate and serve with pasta or long grain rice and sauce.
A great variation for this zucchini recipe would be to bake the zucchini with fresh diced tomatoes seasoned with herbs. This provides you with tasty courgettes directly served with their sauce.
Zucchini and me
As said earlier, I grow zucchini in my vegetable patch ; not that it is a big one but my harvest generally includes +/- 30 giant zucchini each and every year.
Conservation might look problematic when it comes to vegetables. However, I've never had any trouble with this: I place 50% of them in a dry and fresh area of the house and cook the rest (mostly make zucchini soup) and put into the freezer. Zucchini soup is a fantastic Winter treat ;)
Because home grown zucchini are quite big, you can prepare soup for 3 or 4 days with just one vegetable! When I get too many courgettes from the garden, and this happens every other year, I give them to friends and family.
Grow Heirloom Zucchini in your own garden patch
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 4 Ronde niche zucchini
- 1/2 Pound minced beef
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fine herbs to taste
- Grated Emmenthal cheese to taste
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| Remove zucchini flesh |
Directions:
Preparing the zucchini for stuffing:
Cut the top of the zucchini
Using a tablespoon, remove the flesh from the courgette
 |
| Mix minced meat and courgette flesh |
Dice the zucchini flesh
Mix together with minced meat
Add salt and pepper to taste as well as herbs
Fill the empty zucchini with the mixture
Sprinkle grated cheese on the zucchini and place on an oven plate.
 |
| Fill the zucchini with stuffing |
Using a fork, make sure that the meat/courgette mixture is well cooked. In case it is not ready, let the zucchini for some more time.
Once the zucchini are ready, place on a plate and serve with pasta or long grain rice and sauce.
A great variation for this zucchini recipe would be to bake the zucchini with fresh diced tomatoes seasoned with herbs. This provides you with tasty courgettes directly served with their sauce.
Zucchini and me
As said earlier, I grow zucchini in my vegetable patch ; not that it is a big one but my harvest generally includes +/- 30 giant zucchini each and every year.
Conservation might look problematic when it comes to vegetables. However, I've never had any trouble with this: I place 50% of them in a dry and fresh area of the house and cook the rest (mostly make zucchini soup) and put into the freezer. Zucchini soup is a fantastic Winter treat ;)
Because home grown zucchini are quite big, you can prepare soup for 3 or 4 days with just one vegetable! When I get too many courgettes from the garden, and this happens every other year, I give them to friends and family.
Grow Heirloom Zucchini in your own garden patch
Squash, Round French Zucchini Heirloom - Certified Organic Seeds
Go original and grow round zucchini this year. Get a pack of French Heirloom courgette seeds and plant them in the garden.You don't have to work a lot when growing such veggies. However, instead of many people, I don't do anything with flowers as I love big veggies.
Therefore, I let flowers die and leave the zucchini grow till the end of August or mi-September. This ensures a huge crop of gigantic zucchini.
More Zucchini recipes for you
If you love squash and want to get more recipe ideas, then get a cookbook.
This book provides you with 225 recipes to make the most of your squash crop! From finger foods to salads, from starters to main dishes, from breads to desserts, you'll surely find that special recipe adapted to the season and that will surprise your family.
In addition, the book is filled with suggestions to store the vegetables and much more !
Disclosure: this post generate income for the writer based on affiliate relationships with our partners, including Amazon, Google and others.
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