Best 3 Greek Stuffed Zucchini Recipes

GREEK STUFFED ZUCCHINI (KOLOKITHAKIA YEMISTA AVGOLEMONO)

Steps:

• Cut zucchini into 1/2s or 1/3s, cored on one end (the other end is left intact) and remove filing carefully with corer so that a not-too-thick wall of zucchini remains to contain the filling, keep 1/2 the zucchini flesh removed from the coring, minced (not the shells- but the actual part of the zucchini that was removed, the other half makes a lovely omelette with a bit of parmesan for another meal!).
• You can prepare your zucchini from the previous day and keep, wrapped, in the refrigerator- this actually makes a lot less work on the day of preparation as it's the coring of the zucchini that takes up the most time.
• Mix the meats, onion, garlic, rice, parsley and zucchini in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Stuff this mixture into the opening of the one end of each zucchini piece and make sure the filling goes all the way into the vegetable.
• Level opening neatly so that no filling comes out.
• Layer the filled zucchini pieces in a big pot and add enough boiling water to just cover.
• Put in the stock cubes and the butter and cover.
• Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour (knife tip should slip into a piece easily), and take off heat.
• Carefully remove the zucchini pieces with a slotted spoon and place on a reheatable serving dish.
• Strain the cooking liquid left in the pot to remove any pieces of zucchini or grains of rice that may be floating around.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the cornstarch and lemon juice (add the juice of 1 lemon at this point).
• Slowly ladle in (literally the thinnest of streams) your hot cooking liquid, whisking the eggs all the while so they don't curdle.
• Keep doing this till nearly all the cooking liquid has been used and then pour your egg mixture and any cooking liquid left back into the pot and heat on a low flame until the sauce has thickened.
• Taste, if it needs more lemon, add up to 1/2 more.
• This is what is called an'Avgolemono Sauce' (Egg-lemon Sauce)- it is delicious.
• When ready to serve, put 2-3 piping hot pieces of the stuffed zucchini on each plate and nap with the sauce.
• Serve with feta cheese on the side (you won't believe how good a nibble of feta tastes with each bite of this!), good, crusty bread (you want to get all the sauce), and wine.

GREEK STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Place rice in a bowl, cover with water, and allow to soak for 1 hour.
• Slice a long, 1/2-thick slice from the side of each zucchini to serve as a lid; hollow out the flesh and seeds from the inside of the zucchini with a spoon, leaving a 1/2-inch thick shell. Discard the flesh, or save for another use. Drain, and place the soaked rice in a bowl. Mix in the ground beef, shallots, garlic, mint, and parsley. Stuff the zucchini boats about 3/4 full with the mixture; stuffing will expand during cooking. Cover the zucchini with the cut-off lid slices.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and sprinkle the pan with salt and pepper. Place the stuffed zucchini into the pan, pour water around the zucchini, then reduce heat to medium low. Cover with a lid, and cook until the zucchini are tender and the meat is no longer pink, 35 to 40 minutes.
• About 10 minutes before the zucchini are done, beat the egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixture until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the yolks and lemon juice until well combined. Remove the zucchini from the skillet, leaving the juices, and set the zucchini aside in a warm place. Whisk about 1/2 of the liquid in the skillet into the egg mixture by tablespoons, then pour the egg mixture into the skillet with the remaining liquid. Over low heat, combine the sauce with the pan liquid by gently rotating the skillet to mix the contents; heat the sauce for about 1 minute to thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil. Serve the zucchini with lemon sauce.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI AVGOLEMONO, GREEK WAY

Steps:

• 1. Rinse the zucchini and cut off the stem end. Carefully cut off a slice from the other end to use later as a cap. With a grapefruit spoon or melon baller hollow out the zucchini and chop the flesh.
• 2. To make the stuffing warm ½ the olive oil in a deep frying pan and toss in the onions for 3-4 minutes. Add the finely chopped flesh of the zucchini and stir fry them for another 2-3 minutes. Finally add the minced meat and let it cook completely - (meat no longer pink). Add the rice, parsley, half of the lemon juice and salt and pepper.
• 3. Stuff the zucchini up to ¾. Do not fill them completely so the stuffing will have room to expand while cooking. Cover with the slice you cut off earlier to use as cap. Arrange them side by side in a deep saucepan and if you want fill in the gaps with the potato wedges. That's a trick I learned when my kids were young and weren't too keen on eating zucchini. So I had to find a way to intrigue them:) The deal was with every potato wedge they had to have half a stuffed zucchini. It worked so well they both love zucchini, any how it's cooked:)
• 4. Sprinkle with the remaining olive oil and add enough water to cover the zucchini just above their middle. Season to taste. Put the lid on, bring to the boil and then simmer over medium heat for about 30min until the rice has cooked and if using potatoes, til those are tender. Turn off the heat (if overcooked, the zucchini will become too soft and the rice sticky).
• 5. To make the Avgolemono (Egg-Lemon) sauce: Whisk the eggs (both whites & yolks) and then add remaining lemon juice, a little at a time, while still whisking. Slowly add a couple of ladlesful warm cooking liquid to the egg mixture. Pour the sauce over the food. Holding the casserole by its handles, shake it gently from side to side. If necessary reheat very slowly without covering or boiling. Serve immediately. Enjoy! Kali Orexi!
• 6. Tip: If you want to thicken the sauce, in a small bowl mix a couple of Tbps of cornstartch with a some water or cooled liquid from the pot. Mix well and add to the pot and then gently shake the post from side to side.