I decided that stuffed zucchini would be a good use of my overgrown zucchini. I looked for recipes, expecting it to be easy to find a standard, Americana version of stuffed zucchini. As I should know by now, though, that’s not the case. I found several variations on stuffed zucchini, some of which involved beef, lamb, and turkey, tomato sauce and cheese, and rice or breadcrumbs, but not really anything that I could make without having to go to the store or that I could use without making substitutions.
I did, however, find a recipe for Stuffed Zucchini with Potatoes and Peas. This recipe intrigued me. Basically, this sounded like samosa filling piled on top of a split zucchini. I love samosas, but worst part about making them is wrapping them! I thought this recipe sounded excellent since this recipe took the worst part of samosa-making out of the equation. The only unusual thing about this recipe is that it takes a couple tablespoons of chickpea flour. [Yes, believe it or not, I had chickpea flour in my cupboard, but not stuff to make more traditional stuffed zucchini.] I have heard, however, that you could substitute in a little regular or whole wheat flour to act as a binding agent for the potatoes and peas.
This recipe took a little longer than I expected, simply because there were so many things to cut up. I halved my zucchini and cut it into 8 pieces, and scooped out all the seeds. (I think that the zucchini I used weighed 3 pounds, so I only needed the one.) I had to cut up and parboil potatoes, thaw peas, shred ginger, mince a serrano pepper, and chop up onion and cilantro.
Aside from all the menial chopping that had to be done, the recipe was pretty straightforward. After I sauteed the chopped vegetables and spices, I piled them on top of the zucchini pieces. It was a little hard to get all of the filling to stay on top of the zucchinis.
All of this work was totally worth it. These stuffed zucchini were delicious. It was pretty filling, more than I expected. It was exactly like eating samosa filling on top of zucchini. The potatoes and peas were spicy, but the zucchini was a little sweet to off-set that heat. It was great as leftovers for lunch the next day.
I would definitely make this again. If I didn’t have chickpea flour, I might try using a little whole wheat or regular flour to act as a thickening agent when you cook the peas and potatoes with the spices; I’m not sure if that would change the flavor very much. Give this recipe a try if you like Indian food; I can’t attest to its authenticity, but it was relatively simple, healthy, and delicious.
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