Polish Stuffed Zucchini

I remember when I was 6-8 years old, we were spending vacations on our large garden plot and sleeping in a Summer small house. My father was planting tomatoes & cucumbers for sale and other vegetables for our own use. We had zucchinis, but not eating them while they are small, but waiting them to grow to 2-3 kg each:) Then my Mum was cooking Polish Stuffed Zucchini.

Nowadays it is hard to find these big zucchinis in stores, but when I go to Farmers market, I get them from real farmers, not the sellers that buy in wholesalers and just distribute goods. They cost about 1 USD per kilogram.

Polish Stuffed Zucchini was one of the dishes that my Mum made for our big family those days. It was quite cheap to make: you use minced meat mixed with rice, so you can manage on your own the ratio between them:)

Ingredients

• large zucchini (mine weighted 1,2 kg/ 2,6 lb)
• 0,6 kg/1,3 lb minced meat (I used turkey)
• 100 g/ 3,5 oz rice
• onion
• egg
• parsley
• 700 ml/3 cups tomato sauce (tomato puree)
• 200 g/ 7 oz cheese (suitable for melting)
• salt & pepper
• basil, thyme, oregano

Peel zucchini and cut it along in halves. Take the seeds out. Simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Add salt, pepper and herbs to tomato sauce. Shred the cheese to the bowl.

Prepare the filling:

Mix minced meat with cooked rice. I had about 1/4 of rice (cooked) and 3/4 meat. Add diced onion, parley and egg. Season with salt and pepper and your favorite herbs (oregano, thyme, basil).

Place zucchini in a baking pan. Fill the hollow in zucchini with meat. Cover it with tomato sauce and pour the rest of the sauce to the pan.

Bake for 40 minutes in 180 C/ 350 F and add shredded cheese. Bake for another 20 minutes.

Serve with tomato sauce and parsley. I also like to put some ketchup on the top of my plate, to add little bit of sourness to it, as zucchini itself can taste a little bit bland:)

If you look for another budget Polish recipes for a big family you will like Polish Farmer’s Casserole.

Comment on the post if you have questions, other ideas on the recipe or just enjoyed reading. I would be happy to see your thoughts on my posts!

Thanks for liking and sharing my recipes to your friends – it helps to develop my blog!