Levantine cuisine · Vegetable Dishes

Kousa Mahshi bi Zeit

Hollowed-out zucchini stuffed with rice, tomatoes, and mint, served lukewarm in an olive oil-tomato broth.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 8 small zucchini
• 200g rice
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1/2 bunch mint
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 lemon
• 400ml water
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Wash the zucchini, trim off the stem ends, and carefully hollow them out with a corer or narrow spoon, leaving a wall about 5mm thick.
2. Rinse the rice, drain, and mix with 2 finely diced tomatoes, the finely chopped onion, the chopped parsley and mint, allspice, 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Fill the zucchini only three-quarters full with the rice mixture and leave it loose – the rice will swell noticeably during cooking.
4. Heat the remaining olive oil in a wide pot, sauté the tomato paste for 1 min., add the third tomato diced, and pour in the water.
5. Arrange the zucchini tightly side by side, salt, weigh them down with an upturned plate, and simmer covered over gentle heat for 35–40 min. until the rice and zucchini are tender.
6. Remove from the heat, drizzle with the juice of the lemon, and serve lukewarm in its own broth.