My original recipe for Zucchini Mamoulayim- Baked Zucchini stuffed with Toasted, Israeli Couscous & Garden Tomatoes!
Mamoulayim are Israeli stuffed vegetables, and they can be made from any veggie that will hold a stuffing, in a variety of ways, and with a variety of fillings. Some are served hot, and some, like grape leaves, are served cold. Often stuffed with rice, or ground meat and rice, I decided to stuff this zucchini with Israeli CousCous, toasted in EVOO & scallions, and mixed with our garden’s tomatoes! It made a delicious filling that worked perfectly!
How this came to be was that the other day I went into the garden and harvested a big bowl of candy-sweet, little, orange tomatoes, and a huge bowl of Adirondack Blue purple potatoes… And just as I was about to go inside, I decided to peek under the leaves of the squash and pumpkin plants, and found a Huge zucchini! It’s called, by Burpee Seeds, a “Sure Pick Summer Squash”, but it’s a zucchini, and as it was hiding, I didn’t see it, and it got WAY bigger than your average zucchini!
I had no clue how it was going to cook up, as I didn’t know if, having become so large, it had become tough or stringy, but I was absolutely delighted with how it turned out, and so I’m sharing this recipe I created, which would be great with any summer squash- or winter squash for that matter! (Summer squash, such as zucchini, are more delicate than winter squash, and thin-skinned; you eat the skin. Winter squash often have to be baked longer, and the skin is thicker; think pumpkin…)
Yesterday’s garden harvest- note the Great Big Zucchini!
I created this recipe by eye, and so I am going to teach you to do it by eye, too!
The first thing I did was pre-heat the oven to 475F. Then I cut the zucchini down the middle into two halves, and scooped out the seeds with a spoon. Then I rubbed the two halves all over with EVOO (olive oil), and set them in a baking dish. Once the oven was hot, I put them to bake for 35 minutes, lightly covered with a sheet of aluminum foil. I wanted them soft & tender, and I had no idea how long to bake them, given the size of them, so I wanted to check them at 35 minutes.
While they were baking I made the filling. Cut up your tomatoes (or other garden veggies- you can get creative here!), and set them aside. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick pan. Add scallions or chives (or a chopped onion or shallot) and toss it around. Then add one heaping cup of Israeli Couscous, and toss it around in the oil in the pan until it starts to brown and smell delicious! You do not want to burn it, you want to toast it, LOL. When it looks nice and toasty, add the tomatoes and chopped basil and a bit of Kosher salt, (and anything else you want to add- chopped veggies, herbs, hot pepper bits…), and toss it around some more. Then add a cup of chicken stock (or a cup of water with a teaspoon of chicken stock powder, which is what I used). Turn the heat down and cover the pan, and let it cook for a minute or so until the liquid is absorbed- the couscous will absorb the water Very quickly. Taste it, and add more chicken stock, until the couscous is as tender as you want it- I added another cup of chicken stock. When it’s just the way you like it, fluff the couscous with a fork, cover the pan, and turn off the stove.
One cup of couscous will make a lot more filling than you will need to stuff one big zucchini, but it’s delicious, and you can either stuff more veggies, or just eat it up as is!
Check your squash after 35 minutes. It should be fork-tender- just the way you want it to be when you eat it! My zucchini was quite large, and I let it bake for an additional 20 minutes. At that point it was fork-tender, and each half was filled with liquid- oil and juice from the zucchini. I drained the liquid, and filled each half with the couscous-tomato mixture, topped it with a sprinkle of Panko crumbs, and put it back in the oven under the broiler for about 2 minutes- until the Panko toasted and the tomatoes just started to char.
A sprinkle of Kosher salt and Voilla! Zucchini Mamoulayim!
If you’re a #chilihead like me, you may want to add hot pepper bits, or serve it with Schug (Yemenite hot sauce), or Moroccan Salted Lemons… Jazz it up as you like!
Zucchini Mamoulayim,. fresh out of the oven!
Please let me know in the comments if you made this recipe, and how it worked for you, and what you did to make it your own!
And please give me other ideas for yummy things to make with summer garden veggies!
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