Kusa Mihshi - Stuffed Lebanese Squash / Cucuzza / Koosa

"Kusa - AKA Lebanese Squash / Zucchini / Courgette, Cucuzza. This is a recipe for a quick & simple version of the traditional stuffed Kusa dish."
 
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photo by Brad 007 photo by Brad 007
photo by Brad 007
photo by Brad 007 photo by Brad 007
photo by Brad 007 photo by Brad 007
Ready In:
1hr 10mins
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
4-6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  • Hollow out each zucchini using a zucchini / apple corer or small, flexible paring knife, leaving 1/8-inch-thick walls.
  • Combine lamb, rice, 1 1/4 teaspoons marjoram, 3/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon mint, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Loosely stuff each zucchini with the lamb mixture. Place the stuffed zucchini in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
  • Combine tomato sauce with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 3/4 teaspoon mint and 1/8 teaspoon allspice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then pour over the zucchini. Cover the pan with foil.
  • Bake, turning the zucchini halfway through cooking, until the zucchini and rice are tender and the filling reaches 165ºF on an instant-read thermometer, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve the zucchini with the sauce.

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Reviews

  1. This was a pretty good recipe. I didn't have mint so I left it out. I think it could have used a bit more salt, but I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce so that may be why. I recommend visiting a Middle eastern market and picking up a zucchini corer.
     
  2. This is easy and wonderful! Even my squash hating husband thought it was worth doing again. And I will!<br/>I did use kusa squash - not zucchini - it is a bit thicker, and I think made for easier/better stuffing, but if I was going to do zucchini, I think I might cut them in half and do more of an "open-face" preparation.<br/> <br/>Leftovers reheat perfectly as well, which is always good news.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This was a pretty good recipe. I didn't have mint so I left it out. I think it could have used a bit more salt, but I used crushed tomatoes instead of tomato sauce so that may be why. I recommend visiting a Middle eastern market and picking up a zucchini corer.
     

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