Stuffed zucchini with pine nut salsa

• porsiyonlar: 2 main and 4 side

Malzemeler

2 large zucchini, halved lengthwise (1 1b 2 oz/500g)

½ garlic clove, minced

1 large egg, beaten

1½ oz/40g Parmesan (or pecorino), finely grated

scant 1 cup/40g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs (from about I slice, crust left on if soft)

salt

3½ oz/ 100g cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 large lemon: finely zest to get 2 tsp, then juice to get 1 tbsp

¼ cup/5g finely chopped oregano leaves, plus a few extra leaves to serve mounded

1 cup/ 35g pine nuts, lightly toasted

3 tbsp olive oil

Yöntemler

1. Preheat the oven to 475°F

2. Use a small spoon to hollow out the flesh of the zucchini and make them into the shape of canoes. Don't scrape them out completely, though-you want the sides to be about ½ inch/I cm thick and the zucchini should still hold their shape. Transfer the flesh to a sieve and squeeze and discard as much liquid as you can—you should be left with about I cup/ 100g of drained zucchini flesh. Put this into a medium bowl and stir in the garlic, egg, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and 1 tsp of salt. Use your hands to crush the tomatoes well, then add these to the bowl of zucchini mixture. Stir to combine and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the lemon zest, oregano, and pine nuts. Stir half of this into the zucchini mixture and set the rest aside for the salsa.

4. Place the hollowed zucchini on a medium baking sheet or ovenproof dish, hollowed side facing up. Drizzle I tbsp of oil (in total) over the zucchini and season with ⅛ tsp of salt (in total). Spoon the zucchini mixture back into the hollows and bake for 15 minutes, until the filling is set and golden brown.

5. While the zucchini are baking, make the salsa. Add the lemon juice, remaining 2 tbsp of oil, and ⅛ tsp of salt to the bowl of oregano and pine nuts. Let the zucchini cool a little. Spoon the salsa on top, sprinkle with oregano leaves, and serve.

Notlar

Stuffed vegetables would definitely be part of my last meal—love them! Traditionally, stuffing vegetables has always been a bit of a labor of love but, here, a lot of labor has been removed without cost to the love. Try to get large zucchini, if you can—you'll be able to scrape them more easily without damaging them and have plenty of flesh to stuff back inside. A mix of yellow and green zucchini also looks great, if you can get hold of both.

You can make the stuffing a day ahead so that the zucchini are ready to be stuffed and grilled.