Greek Stuffed Zucchini (kolokithakia Yemista Avgolemono)

Total Time: 1 hr 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 6 large zucchini (this depends on size, when you cut the zucchini, you should estimate that 2-3 of these pieces will)
• 1 large onion, minced (equaling 1 cup)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh spearmint (or 1 tsp dried, crumbled)
• 1/2 cup minced parsley
• 1/2 cup par-boiled rice
• 1/2 lb ground lamb
• 1/2 lb ground beef, you could use all ground beef and not use lamb
• 4 ounces butter
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon, juice of, to 1 1/2
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Recipe

• 1 cut zucchini into 1/2s or 1/3s, cored on one end (the other end is left intact) and remove filing carefully with corer so that a not-too-thick wall of zucchini remains to contain the filling, keep 1/2 the zucchini flesh removed from the coring, minced (not the shells- but the actual part of the zucchini that was removed, the other half makes a lovely omelette with a bit of parmesan for another meal!).
• 2 you can prepare your zucchini from the previous day and keep, wrapped, in the refrigerator- this actually makes a lot less work on the day of preparation as it's the coring of the zucchini that takes up the most time.
• 3 mix the meats, onion, garlic, rice, parsley and zucchini in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• 4 stuff this mixture into the opening of the one end of each zucchini piece and make sure the filling goes all the way into the vegetable.
• 5 level opening neatly so that no filling comes out.
• 6 layer the filled zucchini pieces in a big pot and add enough boiling water to just cover.
• 7 put in the stock cubes and the butter and cover.
• 8 simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour (knife tip should slip into a piece easily), and take off heat.
• 9 carefully remove the zucchini pieces with a slotted spoon and place on a reheatable serving dish.
• 10 strain the cooking liquid left in the pot to remove any pieces of zucchini or grains of rice that may be floating around.
• 11 in a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the cornstarch and lemon juice (add the juice of 1 lemon at this point).
• 12 slowly ladle in (literally the thinnest of streams) your hot cooking liquid, whisking the eggs all the while so they don't curdle.
• 13 keep doing this till nearly all the cooking liquid has been used and then pour your egg mixture and any cooking liquid left back into the pot and heat on a low flame until the sauce has thickened.
• 14 taste, if it needs more lemon, add up to 1/2 more.
• 15 this is what is called an'avgolemono sauce' (egg-lemon sauce)- it is delicious.
• 16 when ready to serve, put 2-3 piping hot pieces of the stuffed zucchini on each plate and nap with the sauce.
• 17 serve with feta cheese on the side (you won't believe how good a nibble of feta tastes with each bite of this!), good, crusty bread (you want to get all the sauce), and wine.