La petite courge endimanchée – petites courges farcies de riz brun au saffran, blettes, parmesan  et prosciutto

courgetfarcie2web

courgetfarcie3web

How can you not like those zucchini? They are the cutest little things you can have in a plate…I haven’t stuffed vegetables in a while, just because I am not a huge fan of stuffed vegetables, they’re fun to look at but I feel they’re never quite satisfying on their own…When I saw those at the Berkeley Bowl, I thought, I’ll buy them anyway, I can always slice and sautee them. Then after staring at them for a while, I thought it would be such a shame to NOT use them in their original shape, so I wanted to find a way to really make them tasty, “goûtues” like we say in French…and here they are, green and yellow, with their little hat on top to cover their heads, and deliciously savory.

for 3 people as a side dish

  • 6 small round baby zucchini
  • 2/3 cup sweet brown rice
  • 3 slices of prosciutto di parma
  • 100 g swiss chards
  • 1 shallot
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 1/2 dose of saffran
  • 3 tbs fresh grated parmigiano reggiano
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • salt pepper

Preparation

Cut the top of the zucchini, scoop the inside with a teaspoon, chop the flesh in small pieces and sautee in olive oil, then add chopped prosciutto. Cook until the water evaporates. In the meantime, add salt to the zucchini shells, and place in a prehated oven at 370F for about 10 min.

Cook the rice, either in a rice cooker, adding saffran to the water, or in a regular pot, steaming it for about 30 min. Sweet brown rice takes a while to cook and remains a little crunchy.

In the meantime, cook swiss chard in boiling water for about 10 min. When cooked drain and remove excess water. Chop in small pieces. Heat up in olive oil in a pan, add shallot, cook until translucent, then add the swiss chards, saute for another 5 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add cooked rice, zucchini flesh, swiss chards, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper and one tsp olive oil, mix well and stuff zucchini with the rice mixture, place cover on top. Cook in a prehated oven at 380F for about 25 min.