Lebanese Cuisine

Stuffed zucchini (kousa mahshi)

Cuisine: Lebanese Created by Judy Saba

This recipe can be adapted to be suitable for vegetarians (see below)

Ingredients

10 small pale green zucchinis, approx. 10 cm in length
2 heaped tbsp salt
2 heaped tbsp tomato paste or puree

Filling
1 cup long grain rice, washed
250g lean beef mince
1 medium tomato, diced
½ onion, chopped
1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/3 cup chopped mint
1/3 cup chopped coriander
¼ tsp ground chilli
1 tsp baharat or allspice
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
20g softened butter
2 tbsp olive oil

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Preparation

Wash zucchini thoroughly under running water. Remove the stalk end, allowing for an opening of approx. 2 cm. Carefully trim the dried section at the other end but make sure not to remove too much, as the zucchini needs to be intact. Carefully hollow out the pulp, using a manakra (marrow scooper). Place one teaspoon of salt in a bowl of water and wash zucchini. Drain and set aside.

Thoroughly mix all the filling ingredients together. Fill each with mixture up to 1 cm from top, do not fill completely. It’s best to fill the zucchinis by hand, tapping them on the bench to settle the filling.

Fill a large pan with water and add the tomato paste. Add filled zucchinis and cover with lid. Bring to the boil, uncover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 60 minutes. Serve with a little of the sauce and a dollop of yoghurt.

Hints:
- Washing zucchinis in salt water keeps them firm when cooking.

- For removing the pulp an instrument can be purchased at any Lebanese general store.

- Do not discard the pulp after hollowing out the zucchini, it can be set aside to make a delicious omelette.

- If any of the mixture if leftover, you can roll it into one or two balls and place in saucepan with zucchinis to cook.

- For vegetarian Kousa, replace the meat with cooked chick peas.

Lebanese Restaurants

Displaying 10 of 134 Lebanese Restaurants.

Restaurant		Suburb
1.	El Bahsa	Newtown
2.	No No's	Red Hill
3.	Abla's	Carlton
4.	Almazett	Caulfield North
5.	Dunyazad	Balwyn North
6.	Kanzaman	Richmond
7.	Samsara	Mt Waverley
8.	Summerland	Bankstown
9.	Almustafa	Glebe
10.	El-Manara Lebanese Restaurant	Lakemba

06 Mar 2011 03:43 AEST

Lauren

Canberra

YUM

amazing! Compliments all round.

10 Nov 2010 05:50 AEST

Marelisa

New York

Really great job

I love that you demo'd the process AND you can download the recipe too! I have no trouble with the site, I have a Mac/firefox. I ate this in Beirut & have always wanted to make it. Thanks.

24 Oct 2009 03:51 AEST

Rosie

Sydney

amazing!

After trying this recipe, I don't see how I could ever eat kousa any other way!!

01 Feb 2009 04:44 AEST

George Said

Seaholme

Printing

Your website does not allow the proper printing of recipes. A major disadvantage, Print letters are far too small to be of use in the kitchen.

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