Il Cucinologo
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Stuffed Zucchini with Rice

17/11/2023

Stuffed zucchini with rice is a delicious and light summer dish, perfect to serve as a first course or as a main dish. Let’s see together how to prepare them:

Ingredients

  • 4 medium zucchini
  • 150 g rice
  • 1 small onion
  • 200 g tomato passata
  • 50 g grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh basil (optional)
  • 1 garlic clove (optional)
  • 100 g mozzarella (for a stringier version, optional)

Preparation

  1. Wash the zucchini under running water and cut them in half lengthwise. Using a teaspoon, gently scoop out the pulp to create a cavity, being careful not to break the outer skin. Set aside the pulp for the filling.

  2. Boil the rice in a pot of salted water following the cooking times indicated on the package. Once cooked, drain and let it cool.

  3. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and sauté in a pan with the extra virgin olive oil until it becomes translucent. If desired, you can add a whole garlic clove to flavor the oil and then remove it.

  4. Add the chopped zucchini pulp, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook for about 5-10 minutes, until softened.

  5. Add the tomato passata to the zucchini pulp and continue cooking for another 10 minutes, adjusting salt and pepper if necessary.

  6. Incorporate the cooked rice into the zucchini and onion sauce, mixing well so the ingredients combine. If you have chosen to use mozzarella, cut it into cubes and add it to the mix.

  7. Fill the hollowed zucchini with the prepared rice mixture and sprinkle them with grated Parmesan.

  8. Arrange the zucchini in a baking dish greased with a drizzle of oil and pour a little water or tomato sauce diluted with water on the bottom to prevent the zucchini from drying out too much during cooking.

  9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 20-30 minutes or until the zucchini are cooked and the surface is golden.

  10. Before serving, you can garnish the zucchini with fresh basil leaves for a touch of color and freshness.

Stuffed zucchini with rice can be customized in many ways: by adding ground meat, replacing the rice with quinoa for a gluten-free version, or enriching the filling with other cheeses or vegetables as desired.

Fun Facts

This dish is very versatile and lends itself to many regional variations in Italy. In some versions you can find the addition of ground meat in the filling, while in others, especially in vegetarian versions, they are enriched with other vegetables like peppers and eggplant. The version I have presented to you is a base on which you can build according to your personal taste.