Vegetarian stuffed zucchini

I planted some seeds this year that were to yield some edible flowers. I was so looking forward to them but when it came round to it I just did not have the time or energy to use them. So I let them just grow. Turns out that one of the plants was a zucchini plant and it did really well. I have two plants and have not bought any zucchini all summer long. It's been a challenge to find different ways to cook them. But today I harvested two fruit and since it was such beautiful weather, probably the last of the season, I decided to stuff them and grill them on the BBQ. So in case you are looking for a different way to cook your zucchini, or are just looking for something fun and vegetarian to throw on the grill, this is for you.

Preparation time: 1 hour; serves 4  (as a side)

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp. Garlic powder

2	Zucchini
1/4 cup	Shallot, finely chopped
1 clove	Garlic, finely chopped
1	Medium tomato
3 tbsp.	Olive oil
2 tbsp.	Bread crumbs
1/2 cup	Parmesan, finely grated
3 sprigs	Oregano
2 sprigs	Thyme
1/4 tsp.	Garlic powder
	Salt and pepper

Method:

Split your zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the inner flesh leaving a pretty thick shell. Remember that zucchini gets really soft when cooked and so if you want it to keep it's shape the shell has to be a bit thicker. I noticed on my zucchini that on the inside there were two different colours. It was very subtle but the inner part where the seeds were had just a slightly different colour. I scooped out along this line. Roughly chop the scooped out zucchini.

Finely chop the shallot and dice the tomato. My tomato has such a funny shape because it also came straight from my garden. Hence the beautiful red colour.

Heat 2 tbsp. of the oil in anything you like and saute the shallots until they become transparent and soft. Add the garlic and stir it in. Then add the zucchini and fry over high heat. I like zucchini when it's done over high heat because it turns golden and it has a much better taste. However, this means that you have to stir it all the time to prevent it from burning. Once the zucchini is cooked add the tomato and continue cooking until no large chunks of tomato are visible. Note that I try not to skin my tomatoes. Skinning them takes away so much nutrients and so much tomato goes to waste.

While this is cooking chop the herbs and grate the cheese.

Once the tomato is cooked remove the stuffing from the heat and add the breadcrumbs, herbs and half of the parmesan. Stir well until everything is combined. Your filling should be relatively dry. If it's not cook it a bit more to get rid of any excess fluids. However, you should do this after adding the breadcrumbs and before adding the herbs and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like spicy foods consider adding some chilli pieces or sauce.

Now brush the zucchini shells with the rest of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Grill the shells with the cut side down for 3-5 minutes on a hot BBQ (or grill). Remove them and then stuff them with the filling. Topping with the left over cheese. Put them back on the grill for another 5 - 7 minutes or until the cheese is just melted. Note that you don't want to over cook the shell because then the whole thing will just fall to pieces. So keep an eye on your food!

Vegetarian Lasanga

A few moments to make something a bit more time consuming!

This is not even going to be a recipe because you I totally forgot to weigh any of my ingredients.

All of our family love lasagna. But not all lasagna's. Obviously meat is off the list and so is spinach and feta (much loved in the USA). Other vegetables are quite okay. I used to have a recipe for a seafood lasagna but I got rid of it when we moved to Germany. [If I gave YOU the seafood cookbook, please copy the lasagna recipe and send it to me. It was my husbands favourite!]

Today's lasagna has egg plant, zucchini, mushrooms and corn in it. The corn is unusual and only found it's way in there because there was half a can left in the fridge.

As I said above, lasagna is time consuming. You can cut down the time by buying pre-made sauces, good lasagna and pre-grated cheese (I just learned how to spell lasagne!!). You can also divide the work up and prepare everything in advance so all you have to do is put the dish together and stick it in the oven. Great if you have time in the evening after the kids have gone to bed and not so much time the next day before dinner. Don't put the lasagna together and let it sit. The liquid will all run to the bottom and there will not be enough to cook the pasta on the top layers. Also the bottom layers will be over cooked because they have too much liquid.

For this lasagna all you need is:

4 Zucchini

3 Eggplants

400g Button Mushrooms

1 large onion

3 large cloves garlic, crushed (we love garlic)

1/2 can of corn

600 ml pre-made pasta sauce (tomato)

350 ml Milk

200 ml Cream

1 Tbsp flour

250 g grated cheese

200 g dried lasagna pasta

Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Oregano and basil (other herbs can be used)

A huge list as you can see...

The first thing you need to do is cook the vegetables. Slice the zucchini and eggplant to about 1 cm thickness. If needed sprinkle the eggplant with salt and allow to stand for 30 minutes, then wash off the salt (I usually skip this step). I used to fry my eggplant and zucchini, but I don't any more because it takes too long and uses up too much oil. Instead I brush them with oil and put them under the grill. Less mess and they don't need to be watched all the time. I grill them at 240 C until they are golden. The kids babysitter asked me how long I grilled them for and I can honestly say "I have no idea". Just grill them till they are golden on one side and then flip them over and grill on the other side. You can of course fry them if you don't have a grill, it tastes better because of the extra oil.

While you are grilling the vegetables dice the mushrooms and the onions. In a heavy bottomed pan saute the crushed garlic. If you don't like garlic you can leave it out or use less. My house always stinks of garlic after we've made lasagna, but it is a nice stink that none of us can smell. Then add the mushroom and the onions and saute until the mushrooms start letting some juice.

Sprinkle a heaped tablespoon of flour over the mushrooms and mix it in. Then pour in the milk and then the cream. Now I was going to make this without cream, and that would have been completely okay, but I just could not resist. The added calories of course give added taste. You can also use a cream substitute or soya milk. It will still taste delicious. (I've tried both, with the cream substitute no one notices the difference. It just costs more.) Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring all the time. Allow it to bubble a bit until the sauce gets thick.

Remove from the heat and stir in the corn, herbs (washed and chopped), salt and pepper. For the herbs use what ever you happen to have. Currently I have basil, oregano and rosemary sitting on my windowsill. I figured the rosemary would not match so I just used the other two.

Now once the vegetables are done you can put the dish together.

I use Barilla lasagna pasta. The reason is that it does not need to be cooked before hand and it is the closest I can get to fresh lasagna pasta. When I'm in Sri Lanka I just make the pasta from scratch but that adds another couple of hours to the preparation time. Not for the busy mother!

The first layer is lasagna and then I put some mushroom sauce on top making sure that all the pasta is covered so that it gets cooked properly. Then came a layer of eggplant; a layer of pasta; zucchini, mushroom sauce, tomato pasta sauce; layer of pasta; left over mushroom sauce; eggplant; tomato sauce; layer of pasta; grated cheese. Oh this sounds so easy when one writes it down, doesn't it?

Of course the pasta never fits exactly in the dish. I break mine so that it fits and make sure that there is overlap. I was just told that if you overlap it the pasta might not cook but that is why you need to make sure there is enough liquid covering it. I have one dish which has rounded edges. For that one, at least for the top layer, I have to patchwork it with little pieces.

Since I didn't put any liquid on the very top most layer I pressed the pasta down so that it would get wet. Sometimes I leave a bit of the white sauce to put over the very top layer before I put the cheese on (I seriously recommend remembering to do this). I guess you could also put pasta sauce on the very top, but it probably would not look very good. Should do nothing to the taste though. 

I also always estimate the amount of vegetables I need incorrectly. The solution is to make a small lasagna on the side (if there is too much) with what ever happens to be left over (currently the left over lasagna in the oven has eggplant, zucchini and a lot of pasta sauce, in it). Lasagna freezes well, and makes a wonderful pack lunch to take to work. Even if its not the best lasagna it sure beats cafeteria food. 

The cheese that you choose to use will also effect the taste of the dish. I used a cheap emmental. In Sri Lanka I use a local gouda. In the USA a cheddar. If I wanted to be really fancy I think I would use a mixture of original Swiss emmental and gruyere.

Gosh, I almost forgot. Bake your lasagna in the oven for around 30 - 40 minutes at 180 C in a fan oven. 200 C (400 F) in a conventional oven. Allow it to cool a bit before serving if you would like it to stay like a tower when you serve it. Be warned, it could fall over and the sauce could run out but it will still taste delicious. Now I just need everyone to get home from their various activities i.e. gymnastics and swimming, so that I can have dinner. Sitting here and staring at this lasagna has made me hungry!!