lamb stuffed zucchini boats

with a vegetarian version

These lamb-stuffed zucchini boats bring the sunny flavors of the Middle East to your dinner table. You can make them in advance and bake them just before you’re ready to serve them. They make a nice presentation, with a brightly colored Syrian Sour Cherry Sauce and a vegetable-studded pilaf on the side.

If you, or some of the people at the table are vegetarian, have no fear. You can make these with a ground beef substitute, such as Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger, and they will still be delicious. If you’re using plant-based meat, or don’t keep kosher, you could optionally add some crumbled feta to the stuffing.

The list of ingredients may seem long, but it’s all thrown together quickly, meatloaf style. In fact, the stuffing makes a great meatloaf!

And while we’re talking about variations, you could also use this stuffing in skinny Asian eggplants…or bell peppers of any color…or tomatoes, or even in small plum tomatoes, served as an hors d’oeuvres or a first course.

I highly recommend you use San Marzano tomatoes (make sure the can says certified, not San Marzano style). Any brand will do. They have a sweeter taste and none of that acid you can get in other canned tomatoes.

Note: You can make the sauce a day in advance and keep it in the fridge. You can also assemble the whole dish a day in advance, and bake it just before you’re ready to serve it.

4 entrée or 8 appetizer/side dish servings

Ingredients for the zucchini:

• 8 small to medium zucchini (just big enough to make two nice halves when you cut them lengthwise)

• good quality fruity olive oil, as needed

• 1 large red onion, diced small

• 3 garlic cloves, minced, divided

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 1 egg

• 1⁄2 cup breadcrumbs

• 1/3 cup ice water

• ¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

• ½ teaspoon allspice

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

• ½ cup finely chopped parsley (divided)

• ½ cup finely chopped dill (divided)

• ½ cup finely chopped mint (divided)

• 1-24oz can whole San Marzano Tomatoes (you’ll use part of the can and use the rest in the sauce)

Ingredients for the sauce:

¼ cup olive oil

1 ½ onions, diced, about 1 ½ cups

½ cup tamarind concentrate

1-24oz. can San Marzano tomatoes, pureed in food processor (use the rest of the can from the stuffing—it will be enough)

1 can pitted sour cherries packed in water, with the water

1½ cups beef or beef flavored stock (or no-chicken stock)

½ cup red wine

a handful each of dried prunes and dried apricots (as much as you want)

Juice of 1—2 lemons, to taste

1½ teaspoons ground allspice

½ cup brown sugar

Method:

(for the stuffed zucchini)

• Wash the zucchini and dry them. Cut them in half lengthwise and then scoop out the middle, leaving a ¼” thick shell all around. This is most easily done with a melon baller (it’s a great tool to have), but can also be done with the tip of a teaspoon.

• In a skillet, warm a small glug of olive oil and sauté the chopped onion, with a pinch salt, until it’s soft and translucent. Add 2 cloves of minced garlic and continue to sauté for another minute.

• Remove 2—3 tomatoes from the can (depending upon their size; it’s not an exact science). Squeeze out their juice back into the can and reserve the rest of the can for the sauce.

• Chop the tomatoes you’ve taken out and toss them into a medium sized mixing bowl.

• Then, scrape the onion and garlic, along with any remaining oil in the pan, into the bowl with the tomatoes. Allow it to cool to room temperature for about 5—10 minutes. (Don’t bother to wash the skillet; you’ll use it again for onions and garlic when you make the sauce.)

• Add the ground lamb or plant-based meat, the egg, the breadcrumbs, the water, the salt, the pepper, and all the spices and ¼ cup each of the parsley, dill, and mint to the bowl with the onions. Add in that third clove of minced garlic. Then add in the ice water.

• Note: The addition of ice-cold water will make your meat softer and more tender. I do this with meat loaf and meatballs as well.

• Mix it all thoroughly with your hands, massaging the ingredients together well. Again, this will give you a softer and more tender final product than mixing it with a fork would do. Come on…play with your food!

• Stuff your zucchini boats with the meat mixture, piling it high in a nice mound. If you have leftover meat, roll it into miniature meatballs.

Make the sauce:

• Grab that skillet again and sauté the onion in the olive oil until it just begins to color.

• Add the rest of the ingredients (using the juice of 1 lemon) and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Remove the cover to stir every now and then, and check to see if it’s getting too thick. If so, add water and mix it through.

• As it’s cooking, add salt and pepper to taste. (The amount of salt will vary depending upon the saltiness of your stock). Make sure to use enough salt or the flavor will be flat.

• Taste and adjust the spices, lemon, sugar, until you have a flavorful sweet and tangy sauce.

• At this point, you can store the sauce if you want to make the dish later.

Putting it all together:

Preheat the oven to 350°.

• To finish the dish, pour the sauce into a glass or ceramic baking dish (avoid using metal) big enough to hold all the zucchini in one layer. Pour a little pool of olive oil into your non-dominant hand. Pick up one stuffed zucchini boat and rub some oil over the zucchini. (Yep, there I go using my hands again…I was a mudpie kid…) Then, lay it in the pan. Continue with the rest of the zucchini boats.

• Bake the zucchini in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. The meat should be cooked through at this point, and be nicely browned on top. The zucchini should be tender.

• While they’re baking, check on them every now and again. If the sauce seems to be drying out, stir in a little water.

• To serve, you want to have the zucchini sitting on the sauce with the fruits; you also want to spoon a little of the liquid part of the sauce over their tops. You can do this on a large serving platter or on individual plates.

• Mix together the remaining ¼ cup of each of the herbs and sprinkle them over the zucchini boats just before serving.

Note: I’m making this dish for the Shabbat when we read the Torah portion, Ki Sisa (when Moses receives the tablets on Mount Sinai). The idea is for the zucchini boats to resemble the tablets, so I’m placing them side by side in the center of each plate, keeping the sauce under and above, but not below, my “tablets.” Under the tablets, at the bottom of the plate, I’ll put a nice serving of Rice and Vermicelli Pilaf with Root Vegetables and Peas. That’s the desert sand…

I play with my food.