Lebanese Kousa – Stuffed Zucchini

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Meatball mix

1. 1
   Mix the ground meat with the onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, rice, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.

To assemble

1. 2
   Halve the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the insides with a teaspoon, leaving walls of about 5 mm.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 3
   Fill the zucchini with the mixture up to ¾ full: the rice swells as it cooks.

   💡Fill only three-quarters full: the uncooked rice swells inside the vegetable, and a full filling gets pushed out.
3. 4
   Heat the oil in a wide pot, add the tomatoes and salt and cook 5 minutes.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
4. 5
   Arrange the zucchini, now stuffed, in a wide pot.

   Wide, shallow pot
5. 6
   Add the water until it covers the zucchini to halfway up their height.
6. 7
   Heat the oil in a wide pot and sauté the chopped caps 0 minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt and stir until the paste dissolves.

   ⚙ SimmeringStoveLid

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
7. 8
   Serve hot with bread.