Stuffed Vegetables

Savory fillings turn garden produce into something spectacular.

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by Kathy GunstOctober 1998from exit # 17

The remainder of the gardening season in Maine is a bittersweet time . The melody is redolent with the teemingness of the final harvest , but filled with expectancy of the many long , cold months to come . This is the time of year when my garden spills over with late tomatoes , sugared onions , squelch of all kinds , and gorgeous green , red , icteric , and chocolate peppers . Filling these just - pluck vegetables with mouth-watering stuffing and roasting them until legal tender and brown grow some of the most substantial cup of tea of the harvest home time of year .

For centuries Mediterranean Captain James Cook have understood the pleasure of stuffed vegetables . Several years ago , in a tiny settlement in the Dixieland of France , I was serve a luncheon of stuff child courgette ; brinjal fulfil with anchovies , olive , and breadcrumb ; and absolutely right tomatoes ingurgitate with crème fraîche and garden herbs . It was uncomplicated food , but the memory of those perceptiveness linger today .

Throughout Turkey nearly every meal begins with meze , an assortment of appetizers similar to Spanish tapa . Stuffed vegetables abound , with an emphasis on mad apple and pepper flavor with fresh mint and alien spices .

You ’ll find like dishes in Spain , along the Italian Riviera , and throughout Greece , Syria , and Israel . In fact , many of the most beloved dishes of the Mediterranean are stuff vegetables , from stuffed grape farewell to artichoke plant fill with savoury breadcrumb to lusty boodle leaves roam around a meat and Elmer Rice stuffing .

The canonic technique for make farce vegetables is astonishingly straightforward : Carve or scoop out the seeds , tease , or inner flesh to transform a vegetable into a vacuous vas , then fill it with an redolent stuffing . Many vegetable work well , everything from courgette , eggplant , tomato , and onions to cabbage . pepper , mushrooms , and winter squash are ideal candidates for stuffing because they come with a ready - made cavity .

Getting vegetable quick for stuffing is also quite dim-witted , but the technique varies from veg to veg . It ’s important to always utilize the impertinent , ripest vegetables usable , avoid those that are oversized and sturdy . Cut just - picked tomato in half , then scoop out a act of the pulp with a spoon to produce a shell . For peppers and winter squash , remove the seeds and stringy bits of human body , and you ’ll be left with a natural cavity to fill . make onions is a bit more complex . I ’ve discover that pre - roasting onions not only acquire a deliciously fresh , smoky flavour , it also work it far easier to peel the onion plant and remove the multiple level hiding in spite of appearance to make room for a savory stuffing .

pile the stuffing into the vegetable , place them in a shallow roasting pan or casserole , and bake until the vegetables soften and the dressing is cooked through and gilded brown . Liquids like tomato sauce , wine , stock , or water are often placed around the vegetables to keep them moist and leave even more flavor .

stuffing should be self-asserting but not overwhelming . They should literally burst with tone to highlight the natural goodness of the vegetables without overpowering them . There ’s no demand for fancy or esoteric ingredient ; rice , breadcrumb , cheese , nuts , herb , and spice are naturals .

In the recipe that follow , Istuff sweet onionswith creamy feta cheese , caramelize onions , breadcrumb , and a touch of cream that ’s offset by the poke of roasted chile capsicum pepper plant purée . The fiery pepper flavor plays beautifully against the mild , naturally fresh onion . To make the purée , I roast the chiles in a very spicy oven to relax the peel . you’re able to also sear the peppers in the flame of a accelerator burner , or on the grille .

Ifill good garden tomatoeswith olive purée , sautéed onion plant and garlic , basil , and breadcrumbs . you’re able to buy a prepared Olea europaea purée , like tapenade , or make your own by puréeing good olives with a bit of olive oil colour .

Peppersmay be the ultimate stuffing veggie . I carry a colored assortment of sweet black pepper with a robust midway Eastern mixture of rice , dry apricots , currants , and ball harden with aromatics like cinnamon , coriander seed , cumin , and fresh mint . The peppers are then baked with a simple tomato plant sauce . This mantrap is refreshing , exotic , and toothsome . Serve it hot , or have the peppers coolheaded to board temperature and mizzle them with lemon juice and olive oil . Butternut squashis paired with tomatoes , cubes of cheese , sage , and ashen wine . The acuity of the cheddar cheese is a respectable counterpoint to the squash ’s mellifluous flesh . A maple sirup glaze adds a beautiful sheen .

Many of these stuffing are interchangeableand work well with other vegetables . Try the onion feta engorge in mushroom , the Turkish rice stuffing in eggplant , or substitute acorn for butternut squash . you may tot up bits of smoked ham or sausage for a meatier gustatory perception , nuts for a crunchy texture , and experiment with your preferred herbaceous plant and spices .

These recipes are appeal because they can be made beforehand of time and popped into the oven just before serving . So they ’re idealistic dish for entertaining or simply planning ahead for a folk dinner . Except for the white walnut squash , which tastes well served straight from the oven , these choke up veggie taste good red-hot or at elbow room temperature . Serve them as an hors d’oeuvre , first course , main course , or side dish aerial . Also worth mentioning : In genuine Mediterranean style , ingurgitate veg tend to be low in fat .

These recipe are design to inspire . Once you ’ve experimented with one or two of these peach , go out into your garden or see a local farmers ’ market and create your own stuffed vegetable combinations .

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Photo/Illustration: Dan Gair

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Turkish Stuffed Peppers

Tomatoes for Stuffing

Sweet Onions with Roasted Chile and Feta Cheese Stuffing

Savory Stuffed Squash

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