There are people in this world who are big on stuffing - they stuff green peppers, red peppers, mushrooms, cabbage - you name it! If there's a vegetable to be stuffed, they're the first in line to do it.
I'm not one of them.
In fact, for the longest time I would listen and sometimes avail to all kinds of suggestions from co-workers about filling bell peppers with potatoes, mushrooms, cheese, rice - brown rice, wild rice, leftover rice, you name it and in the end what a waste - it did absolutely nothing for me!
Little did I know that in a small neighborhood French Bistro in Virginia I was going to be pleasantly surprised. It was in Chez Max that I had these delightful little stuffed courgettes & tomatoes - with Italian sausage and mire poix - a combination of onions, celery & carrots among other things.
And for the first time I actually liked stuffed vegetables.
Now, I'd be lying if I told you they're part of my weekly or monthly repertoire. However, occasionally when the mood strikes and I have some extra time to spare, I do make these wonderful whimsical stuffed vegetables. So pretty are they to look at that you almost don't want to eat them!
And so much better than stuffed bell peppers, I think.
Great as a first course when entertaining because their vibrant colors make such a pretty presentation. But because there is some preparation & time involved, I usually make these as the main dinner course and serve with a riz pilaf on the side.
Now, I have no way of knowing Chez Max's recipe but thanks to 'Le Cordon Bleu at Home' here is a version that does the job pretty well!
This recipe involves 4 steps -
- Prepare the vegetable barrels (good term eh? - barrels)
- Stuffing
- Assembly
- Base of cooked vegetables
The ingredients required for all the steps are - 3 zucchinis, 8 Roma tomatoes, shallots, sliced bread, milk, butter, olive oil, Italian sausage meat, garlic cloves, eggs, onion, celery, carrot, leek, tomato paste, dry white wine, Parmesan cheese grated and parsley for garnish
Prepare the vegetable barrels-
Zucchinis - Cut the ends off the zucchini and cut of both ends. Reserve the top & bottom bits to be used later. Cut crosswise into " lengths - for me that meant each zucchini needed to be cut into 3 parts.
Cook's Note - Make sure you have 2 zucchini barrels and 2 tomatoes per person for a main course. You can halve that for a first course.
Scoop the flesh out from the barrels using a melon baller or as in my case I'm using a very small spoon (smaller than teaspoon) leaving 1/4" thick walls around the sides and at the bottom.
Set the scooped zucchini meat aside to be chopped up and used later. Sprinkle each of the barrel interiors with 1/8 tsp salt divided between 2 barrels and lay them inverted onto a rack or a parchment lined baking tray so they can drain out some of the moisture.
Tomatoes - Slice the top third from the tomatoes and reserve the tops. Scrape out the seeds and discard. Each tomato also has a core and reserve the core to be chopped up and used later. Sprinkle each of the tomato interiors with 1/8 tsp salt divided between 2 tomatoes and lay them inverted onto a rack or a parchment lined baking tray so they can drain out some of the moisture.
While the vegetables are draining, begin on the stuffing -
Cut off the crusts from the bread slices and soak the bread slices in milk - set aside.
Shallots - Peel, cut of ends and discard.
Garlic cloves - Peel & discard skin.
In a mini chopper (please use a mini-chopper or food processor for this recipe or you will chopping till kingdom come!) add the peeled shallots and peeled garlic cloves.Pulse until finely chopped but not mushy.
Heat butter in a saute pan and add the shallots. Cook on medium heat until soft but not brown, about 7-10 minutes.
Add the bulk sausage meat and stir constantly breaking up the sausage mass as best you can. Saute for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, crack an egg in a small bowl. Discards shells and beat the eggs with a fork. Squeeze the milk out of the bread between your palms and add the bread to the sauteed sausage. Stir till blended.
Turn off the heat and add the egg and stir constantly so the eggs are blended and don't turn into lumps of scrambled eggs in a corner of the pan.
Zucchini barrels -
Bring 4 cups of water to boil in a sauce pan. Add the zucchini barrels and blanch for 5 minutes. Remove and drain inverted on a rack. Set aside to cool. Chop up the scooped up zucchini meat and tomato cores as fine as you can. Keep separate.
Divide the sausage mixture into equal quantities & then transfer 3 tbs from 1 part to the other. To the large sausage pile add chopped tomato cores. To the other pile add half the chopped zucchini meat discarding the remaining zucchini meat.
Base of cooked vegetables -
Onion - Peel and quarter
Carrot - Peel & cut into chunks
Celery - Cut off the leaves and white section at the bottom. Cut the remaining length into chunks.
Leek - Cut away root tip and use only the white part - reserve the tops for chicken stock or use in soups
Garlic cloves - Peel & discard skin.
In a mini chopper add all the above ingredients and chop till very fine but not mushy.
In a saute pan on medium heat add oil and heat. Add butter and once it melts add the chopped ingredients. Saute till soft but not brown, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and blend. Add salt, pepper and white wine. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Empty to a baking dish with a flat bottom and spread out with a spatula. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 deg F
Assembly -
Bring forward the sausage stuffing - one with the zucchini & the other with the tomatoes. Also bring forward the vegetable barrels.
Using a small spoon or melon baller fill the vegetables till the stuffing is a mound over each vegetable top. Place the vegetables over the cooked vegetable base in the baking dish. Keep separate & upright.
Sprinkle 1/8 tsp Parmesan cheese on top of each stuffed vegetable barrel.
Place the reserved tops on the vegetable barrels. Some of the zucchinis will not have a top.
With a pastry brush, apply some olive oil on each of the tops. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 deg F and bake in the hot oven for 40 minutes.
During the baking process some the tomatoes and zucchinis may settle or topple over. Just straighten them during the plating process.
To plate, spoon & spread some of the vegetable base at the bottom and place stuffed vegetables per person. Serve 2 zucchinis & 2 tomatoes per person as a main or 1 of each as a first course. Serve with the tops intact.
The stuffing is savory and delicious with the roasted vegetables. Though I used Italian sausage I think this would also work very well with the numerous gourmet sausage selections available in the market. The cooked vegetable base provides a smooth and flavorful balance to the roasted vegetables and the stuffing.
I also think that when yellow squash is in season, I'll fix these with again because I suspect the sweetness of the yellow squash will pair quite nicely with a slightly spicy stuffing.
Though the dish is time consuming and has involves numerous steps I really do like fixing this occasionally when the inclination strikes.
So pretty are these lovelies, they're almost too good to eat.....until your tummy growls that is!
Recipe for
STUFFED COURGETTES & TOMATOES
Adapted from the recipe in ' Le Cordon Bleu at Home'
Preparation time - 1 hr - 20 minutes
Cooking time - 40 minutes
Serves 4 as a main/8 as first course
Shopping list:
3 medium zucchini
1/8 tsp salt/2 vegetable barrels
8 Roma tomatoes
Stuffing
2 slices bread
3/4 cup milk
1 tbs unsalted butter
3 shallots
1/2 lb bulk sausage meat, no casings
1 egg slightly beaten
2 garlic cloves
Base of cooked vegetables
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion
1/2 large carrot
1 large leek
1 stalk celery
2 tbs tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation -
Prepare the vegetable barrels-
Zucchinis
- Cut the ends off the zucchini and cut of both ends. Reserve the top
& bottom bits to be used later. Cut crosswise into " lengths - for
me that meant each zucchini needed to be cut into 3 parts.
Cook's Note - Make sure you have 2 zucchini barrels and 2 tomatoes per person for a main course. You can halve that for a first course.
Scoop
the flesh out from the barrels using a melon baller or as in my case
I'm using a very small spoon (smaller than teaspoon) leaving 1/4" thick
walls around the sides and at the bottom.
Set
the scooped zucchini meat aside to be chopped up and used later.
Sprinkle each of the barrel interiors with 1/8 tsp salt divided between
2 barrels and lay them inverted onto a rack or a parchment lined baking
tray so they can drain out some of the moisture.
Tomatoes - Slice
the top third from the tomatoes and reserve the tops. Scrape out the
seeds and discard. Each tomato also has a core and reserve the core to
be chopped up and used later. Sprinkle
each of the tomato interiors with 1/8 tsp salt divided between 2
tomatoes and lay them inverted onto a rack or a parchment lined baking
tray so they can drain out some of the moisture.
While the vegetables are draining, begin on the stuffing -
Bread slices - Cut off the crusts from the bread slices and soak the bread slices in milk - set aside.
Shallots - Peel, cut of ends and discard.
Garlic cloves - Peel & discard skin.
In
a mini chopper add the peeled shallots
and peeled garlic cloves. Pulse until finely chopped but not mushy.
Base of cooked vegetables -
Onion - Peel and quarter
Carrot - Peel & cut into chunks
Celery - Cut off the leaves and white section at the bottom. Cut the remaining length into chunks.
Leek - Cut away root tip and use only the white part - reserve the tops for chicken stock or use in soups
Garlic cloves - Peel & discard skin.
In a mini chopper add all the above ingredients and chop till very fine but not mushy.
Cooking method-
Heat butter in a saute pan and add the shallots. Cook on medium heat until soft but not brown, about 7-10 minutes.
Add the bulk sausage meat and stir constantly breaking up the sausage mass as best you can. Saute for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile,
crack an egg in a small bowl. Discards shells and beat the eggs with a
fork. Squeeze the milk out of the bread between your palms and add the
bread to the sauteed sausage. Stir till blended.
Turn
off the heat and add the egg and stir constantly so the eggs are
blended and don't turn into lumps of scrambled eggs in a corner of the
pan.
Zucchini barrels -
Bring
4 cups of water to boil in a sauce pan. Add the zucchini barrels and
blanch for 5 minutes. Remove and drain inverted on a rack. Set aside to
cool. Chop up the scooped up zucchini meat and tomato cores as fine as
you can. Keep separate.
Divide
the sausage mixture into equal quantities & then transfer 3 tbs
from 1 part to the other. To the large sausage pile add chopped tomato
cores. To the other pile add half the chopped zucchini meat discarding
the remaining zucchini meat.
Base of cooked vegetables -
In
a saute pan on medium heat add oil and heat. Add butter and once it
melts add the chopped ingredients from the mini-chopper. Saute till soft but not brown, about
7-10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and blend. Add salt, pepper and
white wine. Simmer for about 5 minutes.
Empty to a baking dish with a flat bottom and spread out with a spatula. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 deg F
Assembly & Baking method-
Bring
forward the sausage stuffing - one with the zucchini & the other
with the tomatoes. Also bring forward the vegetable barrels.
Using
a small spoon or melon baller fill the vegetables till the stuffing is
a mound over each vegetable top. Place the vegetables over the cooked
vegetable base in the baking dish. Keep separate & upright.
Sprinkle 1/8 tsp Parmesan cheese on top of each stuffed vegetable barrel.
Place the reserved tops on the vegetable barrels. Some of the zucchinis will not have a top.
With a pastry brush, apply some olive oil on each of the tops. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 deg F and bake in the hot oven for 40 minutes.
To Serve-
During
the baking process some the tomatoes and zucchinis may settle or topple
over. Just straighten them during the plating process.
To
plate, spoon & spread some of the vegetable base at the bottom and
place stuffed vegetables per person. Serve 2 zucchinis & 2 tomatoes
per person as a main or 1 of each as a first course. Serve with the
tops intact.
Enjoy!
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