Traditional Lebanese Stuffed Zucchini - Kousa

Prep time 10 minutes | Cook Time 60 minutes | Total Time 70- 80 minutes

This recipe traveled all the way from Lebanon with my grandmother. Although many Lebanese recipes are naturally plant based, this one is not- the zucchine are traditionally stuffed with lamb meat.

I have tried to recreate it as a vegan dish many times over the years but could not get the flavors just right. That was until Impossible Meat came along! Using Impossible Meat in this dish allowed me to recreate one of my favorite traditional Lebanese dishes. This is a wonderful addition to any family or holiday meal and no one will even realize it is vegan!

Ingredients

• 1 package of Impossible Beef- if you don’t want to use this meat substitute see notes and adjustments below.

• 1 can of tomato paste

• 1/2 cup of uncooked rice - (Grandma would only use Ben’s rice)

• 1 tablespoon of salt

• 2 tablespoons of allspice

• 5-10 green zucchini, yellow squash, or Mexican squash (see notes below)

Instructions

1. Use an apple corer to hollow out 5-10 small to medium zucchini or yellow squash- This recipe will fill about 10 zucchini but if you are cooking for only a few people you can freeze 1/2 of the filling for later.

2. In a bowl mix the Impossible meat, 1/2 cup of tomato paste, 1/2 cup of rice, 2 tablespoons allspice, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Mix well - you may have to mix with your hands.

3. Fill the squash with the stuffing using a small spoon and your hands! Do not overfill as the ingredients will expand while cooking.

4. Mix 1/4 cup of tomato paste with 1&1/2- 2 cups of water

5. Stand the squash up in a saucepan or you can also lay them in a frying pan- I prefer to stand them up.

6. Pour the tomato paste/water mixture into the saucepan- the squash will be about 1/2 covered

7. Cover and simmer over low heat for about an hour. You will know they are done when a fork easily can pierce the skin of the squash

8. I love to serve these with Lebanese Green Beans- Loubia- You can find that and other Lebanese recipes on my recipes page and at catsvegankitchen3390 on YouTube

Notes and Adjustments

This recipe is a bit complicated if you haven’t made it- I do suggest watching my 5 minute YouTube tutorial on this if you are making it for the first time.

The recipe was traditionally made with a light green Zucchini that they call Mexican squash where I live (Los Angeles) This can be hard to find and I also use yellow squash interchangeably and sometimes even like it more.

If you don’t want to use plant based meat you can use textured vegetable protein- but I would be sure to season it first