Here’s the recipe for Provencal stuffed vegetables I promised to you last time…
The version we had in Nice was stuffed with ground veal, but since our objective here is to increase the vegetable intake, may I suggest you make the stuffing with sautéed mirepoix. If you’ve been reading my blog and implementing the tips, you might already have some in your fridge or freezer! With that on hand, it’ll make things so much easier!
The best thing about this is it’s very versatile – meaning you can use things you find in your fridge or freezer and end up with a delicious dish.
For the delicate flavor of squash blossoms, I like the mixture of rice, chicken sausage, grated cheese or ricotta cheese, lemon zest and parsley. The other vegetables have a more assertive flavor, so you can stuff with couscous, breadcrumbs, cheeses, ground meat, cheeses, chopped nuts, pesto…
Ingredients:
- Sautéed mirepoix or sautéed mirepoix and meat mixture
- Seasonal vegetables of your choice: Here I used tomato, zucchini, squash blossom, eggplant and yellow pepper.
- Cooked meat, cheese, chopped nuts, herb for flavor
- Rice, breadcrumbs, couscous etc.
- Beaten egg
Directions:
- Combine rice, sautéed mirepoix, meat, etc. and egg. Season and mix well.
- Cut vegetables in half and scoop out the seeds. If large, slice in 1/4” thickness. Sprinkle salt and pepper and drizzle inside with a little olive oil. If using squash blossoms, remove the stems and stamens, just rinse it gently with water and pat dry.
- Chop tomato and zucchini seeds (if small), and add to the mixture.
- Stuff the vegetables with mirepoix mixture. Optional: Sprinkle with grated cheeses.
- Bake at 400F or pan fry both side – stuffed side first on a non-stick skillet, until the top is golden brown and cooked through.
Tip: It’s really fun and easy to make different stuffing and compare. These veggies on the photos have 5 different combinations, all with sautéed mirepoix with chicken sausage. (Sorry, I forgot to take a photo before I fried them.)
- pepper: couscous, pesto, ricotta.
- zucchini: tomato flesh, pecorino Romano
- Squash blossom: as above with ricotta
- tomato: zucchini flesh, rice, pecorino Romano, pesto
- eggplant: panko, lots of pecorino Romano
If you made too much stuffing, make it into small balls, fry/bake them as a snack! It’s a cook’s treat.
Squash blossoms are easy to grow at home. Given that they are really expensive (50c per withered flower) and hard to find, I grow them just for the flowers.
In my next post, I’ll share the a little more about this summer delicacy, and the tips on how to keep them fresh longer… So stay tuned.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks lovely.
Thank you for your comment!
すごくおいしそう！
ソースはなにをつければいいのですか？
みらぽわにひきにくとパルメザンチーズなんやライスをまぜてもいいのですね。
そして、パン粉をふって、焼くのですか？
久美子さん、具にちゃんと味がついてるのでソースは必要ないと思います。うちはそのままですね。あえてかけるなら、ちょっとオリーブオイル、レモン汁とか、エクストラで塩コショウ位かな。やったことないけどしょうゆでもおいしいかも。トマトとかだったらペストを薄めてかけてソースにするとさわやかでいいかも。（私の場合、ペストがあったら中身に混ぜちゃいますが。）
具が表に出ているものはパン粉やチーズをかけて焼くのが好きですが、トマトなんかの場合は生ハム（好みでパルメザンチーズも）をのせて焼くと超美味。ズッキーニの花のように中身が隠れてるのには何もつけないでそのまま焼きます。
ミラポワは何を混ぜても基本的に大丈夫です。ご飯の代わりにパン粉、クスクス、マッシュポテト、リコッタチーズなんかでもいいし。他の野菜でもOK。色々試してくみこさん独自の素敵なレシピを作ってください。（作ったらどうだったかコメントくださいね！）
Comment from Kumiko:
”Wow, they look so yummy! What kind of sauce should I eat them with? So I can mix ground meat, parmesan cheese and rice in Mirepoix, right? And bake/pan-fry with panko breadcrumbs on?”
Answer:
“The stuffing is seasoned, so we just eat them as it is. If you want something, maybe thing like a bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lemon juice, or salt and pepper. I’ve never tried it, but maybe soy sauce too? To boost refreshing taste, you could use pesto diluted with EVOO on stuffed tomatoes etc. When I have any pesto, I normally mix it into the stuffing.
I like those w/ stuffing exposed with breadcrumbs and/or grated parmesan cheese. I tried my stuffed tomatoes w/ prosciuto & cheese on top — they were out of this world… the salty crispness of prosciuto on baked tomatoes is like umami bomb exploding in my mouth! I panfry things like zucchini flowers that cover the entire stuffing without anything on top. (If you deep fry them, you’d need thin batter to prevent the flower from burning and/or the stuffing from falling out.)
You can mix pretty much anything with mirepoix. Instead of rice, you can use bread crumbs, couscous, mashed potato, ricotta cheese, etc. You can also use other veggies. Experiment with many different things and create your own recipes! (When you do, be sure to leave me a comment on how you liked it.)