KOUSA MAHSHI (STUFFED COURGETTES)
SERVES 6 TO 8
In Lebanon, as more and more women enter the workforce, time to prepare meals is becoming limited. This is why you can purchase already hollowed-out kousa (courgettes) from supermarkets and souks. Lebanese kousa seems to be shorter and much stockier than what we have in SA.
250ml (1 cup) Arborio rice
8 medium to large courgettes
Olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into eighths 2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 x 240 g cans peeled-and-chopped tomato 15ml (1 tbsp) sugar
Salt to season
5ml (1 tsp) sumac (a Middle Eastern spice) 250g minced lamb
2.5ml (½ tsp) ground nutmeg
Salt and white pepper to season
Cover the rice with water and soak for an hour before draining well.
Wash the courgettes well. Use a manakra to hollow out as much of the courgette as you can, making sure to keep the bottom intact. Place the inner flesh to one side.
Heat the oil in a deep saucepan. Fry the onion until transparent, then add the garlic. Fry until the garlic begins to release its aroma. Add the canned tomato and heat through. To cut the acidity of the tomato, add the sugar and season with the salt. Add the sumac and the courgette flesh and allow the mixture to come to a slow simmer.
Mix the mince and rice together and add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well, using your hands.
Loosely stuff the courgettes, leaving about 1 cm free at the opening. Place the stuffed courgettes in the sauce and cook on a low simmer for about 40 minutes.
CHEF’S TIP
• A manakra is a tool that looks like a long apple corer. I was taught to measure the length you would need to hollow out on the outside of the kousa to about 1 cm from the bottom, hold my thumb in that position and keep it there to ensure that I don’t poke a hole in the bottom of the kousa.