Stuffed Round Courgettes

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Easy to make, the stuffed round courgettes are a balanced meal for a healthy family dinner. Even the children will happily eat their veg here.

Ingredients for the stuffing

I always use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs in many of my recipes, that is why I usually prepare a large amount and keep it in the freezer. They don’t need to be defrosted ahead of time.

If you want to know more about it you can read the article: Grated Parmesan and Breadcrumbs. also check out the article: Once a Month Freezer Meal Prep to find out what else I keep in my freezer.

I always keep the stale bread aside and when I have time I prepare the breadcrumbs and freeze it. Here are the ingredients I use in proportion to 3 cups of grated stale bread:

• 3 cups of grated stale bread
• 1/2 cup of parmesan
• 1/2 cup of basil leaves or parsley
• 1 garlic cloves

If you are making it only for this recipe use the amount listed on the recipe card below

How to prepare the Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1. Greate the parmesan in a shredder
2. Cut the stale bread in chunks small enough to fit in the shredder
3. Shredd the bread putting the garlic  first so the bread absorbs the flavour
4. Take a cup of shredded breadcrumbs and blend it with the basil leaves (used shredded bread otherwise you risk to break the blender as the bread is too hard for a blender)
5. Add the shredded parmesan to the breadcrumbs
6. Then the breadcrumbs mixed with the basil

Following this procedure will minimize waste (like basil been stuck in the side of the blender, or parmesan left inside the shredder) and a perfect combination of flavours (the breadcrumbs absorbing the garlic and the basil)

It is best if the breadcrumbs rest overnight to absorbs all the flavours. If you freeze them you don’t have to worry about it and use them directly.

How to prepare the courgettes

7. Cut the top off the courgettes and with a spoon or a round vegetable scoop,
8. Dig the centre of the courgettes. Season them with salt and pepper.
9. Put the centre of the courgettes in a Braun Blender and mix with 4 tbsp of the breadcrumbs.
10. Oil the base of a baking dish. Dice the top of the courgettes, mix them with 3 tbsp of the zucchini centre and breadcrumb mix, then lay them in the baking dish, making a sort of base to assemble the courgettes on.

Preparing the stuffing

11. Mix all of the remaining ingredients together with the minced beef.
12. Fill the courgette with the mix and drizzle with olive oil.
13. Cook in the oven at 200°C for 40 minutes

Tips for making the best-stuffed courgette

• Make sure the courgettes don’t have too many big seeds. If they do, do not use the centre
• If you cannot find round courgette, you can use the long regular one. If they are too big don’t use the centre as there will be too many seeds
• Make sure you season well the courgette, inside as well as outside
• For a vegetarian version, you can use only bread crumbs mixed with onions

How to serve the stuffed courgette

Stuffed courgettes is a perfect summer main course when round courgettes are in season.  You can prepare it ahead of time and cook it just before serving it.

You can serve it with a green salad, a tabbouleh or a fresh Italian potato salad. If you want to serve it with something warm, you can serve it with baked rice, or an easy gratin dauphinoise.

If you want to try the same stuffing on other vegetables you can check out the recipe: Petit farcis

If you are making this Stuffed Round Courgette, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

Stuffed Round Courgettes

Easy to make, the stuffed round courgettes are a balanced meal for a healthy family dinner. Even the children will happily eat their veg here. #yourguardianchef #dinner #Italianfood #Frenchfood

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings: 4 People

Print Pin Rate

Author: Laura Tobin

Ingredients

Breadcrumbs (can be prepared in advance and stored in the freezer)

• 1/2 cup Bread crumbs
• 10 leaves fresh basil leaves
• 1 tbsp Parmesan
• 1 clove peeled garlic cloves

Minced Meat Mix

• 1 lb Freshly minced lean beef
• 2 Fresh eggs
• 1 onion diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Original English mustard
• 1 tsp Lemon zest

Courgettes

• 8 Round courgettes
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 tbsp Olive oil

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

Breadcrumbs

• To prepare the breadcrumbs see article above: Grated Parmesan and Breadcrumbs

Courgettes

• Cut the top off the courgettes.
• With a spoon or a round vegetable scoop, dig the center of the courgettes. Season them with salt and pepper.
• Put the center of the courgettes in a Braun Blender and mix with 4 tbsp of the breadcrumbs.
• Oil the base of a baking dish. Dice the top of the courgettes, mix them with 3 tbsp of the zucchini center and breadcrumb mix, then lay them in the baking dish, making a sort of base to assemble the courgettes on.

For the meat filling

• Mix all of the remaining ingredients together with the minced beef.
• Fill the courgette with the mix and drizzle with olive oil. 
• Cook in the oven at 200°C for 40 minutes

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Nutrition

Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 152mg | Sodium: 853mg | Potassium: 1512mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 970IU | Vitamin C: 73.3mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 5.2mg

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