Maria Fotiadou’s Stuffed Greek Zucchini with Beef and Pork Recipe
A recipe from the super-cook Maria Fotiadou – who spices up her drool-worthy social media posts with some refreshing irreverence!
Maria @fotiadism is one of THE BEST Greek cooks I have found on Instagram. Her food is always drool-worthy and her posts always make me chuckle – as she shares the trials and tribulations of marriage with a foodie focus!!!!
Maria resides in Sfendami, beneath Mt Olympus in Greece, and it makes we wonder whether the aura of the ancient Greek Gods has given Maria her cooking super-powers?!?!? What do you think???
Ingredients
- medium zucchini
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1 medium-large brown onion, finely diced
- 400 g mixed minced pork and beef
- ¼ tsp cracked black pepper
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 tap salt
- ⅓ cup medium-grain rice
- 3 cups chicken stock (see KO’s ChickenStock)
- 3 spring onions
- 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 handful dill, chopped
- 1 handful mint, chopped (Optional: Maria does not favour mint, but you might)
- 1 cup water
- 2 eggs
- 1 large lemon, juiced
Method
- Preparing the zucchini
- Wash the zucchini
- Cut the stalk off the top
- Using an apple corer or a small spoon carefully scrape out the flesh, leaving about ½ cm of skin and flesh (reserve the zucchini flesh for zucchini fritters or a zucchini pie)
- Place the hollowed-out zucchini in a medium pot, one next to the other, so they remain upright (If your pot is large – use bowls to prop up the zucchini and fill the empty spaces in the pot)
- Preparing the filling
- On medium-high heat sauté the brown onions in the EVOO till golden in colour
- Add the minced meat and cook till it browns
- Season with the salt and pepper
- Add the rice
- Add 1 cup chicken stock and cook till the stock is absorbed
- Stir in the spring onions, parsley, dill and mint
- Cooking the stuffed zucchini
- Fill the zucchini
- Drizzle the zucchini with a little EVOO
- Add 2 cups chicken stock and 1 cup water to the pot, so liquid level is about 1/3 of the way up the zucchini
- Place a lid on the pot and cook the zucchini on the cook top, on medium/medium-high heat until the zucchini have softened and the rice has cooked through
- Very carefully transfer the zucchini to a platter
- Serving the stuffed zucchini
- For the avgolemono, beat two eggs till light and frothy, add the juice of one lemon and add some broth from the pot to temper the avgolemono
- Pour the avgolemono over the zucchini
- Serve and enjoy! Kali Orexi!