Stuffed Zucchini and Eggplant

Ingredients

• 2 kg zucchini
• 2 kg small eggplant, or long eggplant suitable for stuffing
• 1 kg tomatoes, grated or blended in a blender
• Black pepper
• Salt
• 4 cups short-grain rice
• 1 cup pine nuts, fried in a little butter
• 1 kg minced meat
• A few cloves of garlic
• A few sprigs of fresh coriander
• Also from Mona, here is Eggplant Boats with Vegetables
• You can also make Stuffed Zucchini and Cabbage

Method

1. Wash the zucchini and eggplants and hollow them out to remove the flesh.
2. In a bowl, mix the well-washed and drained rice with the ground meat, fried pine nuts, salt, and a pinch of spice, and mix until the filling is uniform.
3. Stuff the zucchini and eggplants with this filling, leaving the top opening of each vegetable empty (about 1 cm) to allow the rice to expand and prevent the vegetables from splitting during cooking.
4. Place the tomatoes with enough water to cover the zucchini and eggplants; put them in a pot on the stove by themselves until the sauce boils.
5. Add the stuffed zucchini and eggplants into the sauce and keep the pot over low to medium heat until the zucchini and eggplants are tender.
6. Sauté the crushed garlic with the chopped cilantro in a little oil until it wilts, and add it over the pot of stuffed vegetables just minutes before taking it off the heat.
7. After the stuffed vegetables are cooked, remove the zucchini and eggplants from the sauce or broth so they do not fall apart from the hot liquid, and pour the sauce into a separate bowl.
8. Mona Qassem
9. For more ways to prepare eggplant, here is Manzala Eggplant
10. Also from Mona, here are Eggplant Boats with Vegetables