Curried Lamb Stuffed Zucchini

 

Leftovers are the best lunch at work :)

Do you ever have those moments when you leave your garden one day with a baby zucchini on the way, and then you come back and said zucchini is the size of a small child? I think this happened to our farmer. This past week we got a GIANT Italian zucchini in our farm share. The farmer was super apologetic and offered to get us a new basket, but I told him.."No worries! We know what to do with that!" This incredible version of stuffed zucchini is spicy and rich and savory and totally made my coworkers jealous when I heated up the leftovers at work the next day. 

Some people slice the zucchini lengthwise and stuff it to make zucchini boats. When the zucchini gets really big I find that it is helpful to cut it into rings and stuff the rings. One: I think it is easier to serve, Two: it helps the filling retain its moisture and Three: It cooks the remaining squash ring evenly.

I chose to use ground lamb because I LOVE lamb, but you can totally use any ground meat, beans or meat replacement for this recipe.  The centerpiece of this recipe is a Carribean curry sauce mixed with coconut milk. I used a mix of the veggies that were available in my farm share and garden. You can customize this recipe to make use of your own veggies, as long as you keep the sauce you will get a pretty similar result. 

Curried Lamb Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 giant zucchini

1 lb ground lamb

1 cup rice, dry (or grain mix of your choice) cooked to package directions

1 small asian eggplant diced

1 green pepper diced

1 onion diced

2 garlic cloves diced

2 medium potatoes diced small

1 cup fresh or frozen peas

2 eggs

1 bunch of collared greens (or any greens) sliced in ribbons

1 jar of caribbean curry sauce

1 can coconut milk

Directions:

1. Prepare your zucchini. Cut off both ends, and slice your zucchini into 3-inch rounds. Hollow out the pith and seeds from the center of the zucchini rings leaving excellent veggie "bowls" for your lamb filling. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Find a large pan that will hold all your zucchini rings.  Shake up your coconut milk and open the can. Pour about half the milk into the bottom of the pan, save the rest for later in the recipe.

3. In a large bowl combine: uncooked ground lamb, rice, eggplant, pepper, onion, garlic, potatoes, peas, eggs and collared greens along with half of the curry sauce. Mix it well with your hands...it is the only way :)

4. Fill the zucchini rings with the filling. Push it down in there well, and mound it over the top if you need to. It will reduce during cooking. 

5. Finish the sauce: pour the rest of the coconut milk into the curry sauce jar. Screw the top back on tight and shake that sucker up to combine the sauce and coconut milk. Pour the coconut curry sauce over the stuffed zucchini rings. 

6. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes to reduce the sauce. Let the stuffed zucchini rest for 10-15 minutes before serving & Enjoy. 

This dish makes excellent leftovers. (see the first photo)