Kousa Bil Bandora Savory Stuffed Zucchini Recipes

KOUSA BIL LABAN- STUFFED ZUCCHINI WITH YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• Wash and dry the zucchinis, cut off the stalks and slice off the dried tips at the opposite end without removing too much skin.
• Carefully hollow out the zucchini. Start from the stalk end by inserting your corer about 3/4 of the way into the zucchini, making sure not to poke the bottoms or the tender skin of the zucchinis as you hollow. Twist the corer and pull out the zucchini flesh. Do this a few times, until you have a generous cavity. Some have found success using an apple corer to hollow out their zucchinis, I personally prefer the old fashioned way using a regular corer. You can also use an electric veggie corer drill.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the the cored zucchinis and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until zucchinis are cooked through.
• Transfer to a colander to drain and cool down. Save about 2 cups of the zucchini broth, to use later when making the yogurt sauce.
• Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add the chopped onions and salt- cook until wilted stirring frequently (around 10 mins).
• Add ground beef and spices and mix with the cooked onion- constantly stir to break up the clumps of meat. Cook for about 10 minutes or until meat is cooked through.
• In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, begin to warm the yogurt.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch with the reserved zucchini broth, add crushed garlic and salt. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the warmed yogurt. Whisking constantly to avoid the yogurt sauce from curdling. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
• Add the the stuffed zucchinis into the yogurt sauce and simmer for about 20 minutes.

KOUSA BI LABAN

Steps:

• For the stuffed zucchini: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ground top round and ground lamb and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Lebanese seven spices, cinnamon, cardamom, 1/2 cup of the pine nuts and the parsley and stir gently. Set aside to cool.
• Cut the stem off the top of the zucchini. Using a vegetable corer or small spoon, core the zucchini by gently removing the center while leaving the sides intact. Fill the center of the zucchini with the filling, packing to make tight and leaving a 1/2-inch space between the filling and the top.
• Add the vegetable oil to a large skillet over medium heat and fry the zucchini for a few minutes, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the zucchini to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
• Arrange the stuffed zucchini side by side in a large pot of simmering water. Sprinkle with salt, reduce the heat and cover. Cook until the zucchini is tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 20 minutes. Remove the zucchini and reserve the cooking liquid.
• For the yogurt sauce: Place the yogurt in a medium high-sided skillet over medium heat. Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture to the yogurt and cook, stirring, until it begins to steam, about 5 minutes. Add the white pepper and sea salt. Add 3 spoonfuls of the reserved zucchini cooking liquid. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 3 minutes.
• Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and dried mint and cook while stirring until browned, about 3 minutes. While stirring, add the garlic mixture to the yogurt and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Carefully drop the partially cooked zucchini in the yogurt sauce and continue cooking until completely done, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup pine nuts on top to garnish. Serve hot with vermicelli rice.
• Heat the vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Drop the vermicelli noodles into the pan and stir every few seconds until they are browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a towel-lined plate.
• Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium pot. Add the rice, noodles, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the sea salt. Stir together, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until tender, about 20 minutes.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI IN TOMATO SAUCE OR KOUSA

Steps:

• Choose either medium or small zucchini. Wash well cut of stem end. Using a corer hollow out zucchini leaving rounded end intact. Try not to puncture the skin. Soak in salted water for 10 minutes.
• Gently fry onion in butter until transparent. Add pine nuts after 10 minutes cook with onions for another 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
• Add pan contents to ground meat, rice parsley, spice and about a teaspoon of salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of water if need to be easy to work with (I don't add water).
• Fill zucchini with stuffing. (The rice expands and the meat will shrink so fill them all the way).
• Prepare the sauce: in a frying pan gently fry chopped onion in butter. When transparent add chopped garlic cook for a few seconds and chopped peeled tomatoes, tomato paste, water and cinnamon with salt and pepper to taste.
• Ladle some of the sauce into the bottom of a heavy based pan, arrange zucchini in layers adding sauce to each layer, you may have 2-3 layers of zucchini. Or I stand them up on end with the open side up (again DH tells me this is not the "proper" way to do it but if they burn then only the one end is ruined).
• Add enough water to just cover the zucchini with sauce, you may or may not need to do this depending on how much sauce you have.
• Cover and simmer gently for 1 1/4 hours or until veggies are tender and rice is cooked.
• Serve hot or warm with sauce and Arabic pita bread for dipping.

KOUSA BIL BANDORA (SAVORY STUFFED ZUCCHINI)

Steps:

• Clean the zucchini. Cut one end and make a hole through the zucchini, leaving 1/4 inch at the end, taking all the seeds from inside.
• Mix meat, rinsed and drained rice, dash of salt, pepper and cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons finely chopped onions.
• Stuff the zucchini with the meat mixture. Fry them with 2 tablespoons shortening till lightly brown.
• Add tomato, chopped and sauce, and more water just till covered. Let boil.
• Reduce heat to medium. Cover and let cook till done, about 30 minutes. If some of the stuffing is left, add it to the sauce before cooking.
• Serve with pita bread.
• From "One Thousand And One Delights" by Nahda Salah.
• available through International Promoters of Art Inc.