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This recipe for Bolognese stuffed zucchini has the flavor of family dishes.
In the first twenty years of my life, I ate them so often that, perhaps for a reason of cosmic balance, I cooked this dish on very few occasions in the two following decades.
Then, I made peace with the absences and welcomed cooking into my life.
And I started cooking and eating them. Again.

I always considered the execution of this recipe easy until my friend Anna said to me she tied the zucchini with kitchen twine. Kitchen twine?

I’ll tell you what happened.

The method behind the recipe

I was writing my first cookbook, a recipe book where – together with a journalist friend – I collected the flavors of home, and those had impressed me during my travels.

I remember I cooked all the recipes for the book nonstop for months.

At one point, tired and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I asked some friends for help.

Thinking that stuffed zucchini (empty-fill-cook) was an easy recipe, I entrusted it to my Tuscan friend Anna. Who, needless to say, struggled with it. That episode was enlightening.

Since then, when I write a recipe text, I try to describe every step.

Above all, I want to write about the automatic gestures I know and make automatically because I have seen them done so many times.

The same actions are unknown to those people who are not familiar with the recipe.

I still smile, thinking of those poor bound and gagged zucchini.

But this is an easy recipe. One to make and make again.

I would be sorry if, little by little, a good, traditional dish was confused with Meghan Markle’s zucchini a la bolognese recipe.

Bolognese stuffed zucchini

 

Stuffed Zucchini Alla Bolognese

Bolognese stuffed zucchini: the recipe

That country dish is also made in Romagna, especially on the border between Bologna and Romagna, where flavors, people, and stories mix and mingle.
This is one of the preparations that most reminds me of Grandma Sara.
It was a dish she loved and cooked often. For cooks of her generation, it was a quick and easy way to put the family on the table.

Today, it is a dish for special occasions or eating at restaurants.

In Italy, I recommend using the bolognese zucchini variety for the recipe. In fact, the bolognese zucchini is light, short, and pot-bellied, looking like it was born to be hollowed out and stuffed. If you live abroad, try dark green ones, which are longer and thinner. Cut them into two or three parts; emptying them without breaking the outside should be easier.

The meat filling is the same or very similar to that of tortellini and you should mix with it with egg and grated Parmigiano. The one at my house, with Italian sausage instead of prosciutto crudo, is more flavorful.

As I empty the zucchini, I set aside the flesh, which does not go into the stuffing but is also not thrown away: I use it for other preparations, such as an omelet or a pasta sauce.

The stuffed zucchini cook for a few minutes in the pan before continuing their journey into the arms of the tomato sauce.

Stuffed zucchini are served at room temperature when the weather is mild or warm. In winter, serve them piping hot. Excuse me? No zucchini in the winter season? True. Grandma, during the summer, with the last harvest, would prepare supplies for the winter (storing the pans in the big freezer of the home cellar).

The zucchini are different sizes, and the emptying hand is different. However, with what is left over from the stuffing, and something always has to be left over, you make the meatballs that accompany the stuffed zucchini.

Buona cucina, Monica

Cook with me
  • I wrote HERE about the historical and culinary links between Romagna and Bologna.
  • The origin of Bolognese stuffed vegetables is interesting. To learn more, read the history of stuffed fennel.
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Bolognese stuffed zucchini

Bolognese stuffed zucchini

The Bolognese stuffed zucchini has the flavor of family dishes. The recipe is from the peasant tradition of the Bologna countryside
Course Main Course, One dish
Cuisine Emilia-Romagna
Keyword Bolognese stuffed zucchini
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Stuffing

  • 300 g of pork loin
  • 100 g of unflavored Italian fresh sausage or prosciutto crudo
  • 100 g of mortadella Bologna
  • 1 egg
  • 50 g of grated Parmigiano
  • 2 g of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
  • 12 medium light green zucchini

Sauce

  • 20 g of olive oil
  • 150 g of tomato passata
  • 150 g of warm water
  • salt to taste

Instructions

Stuffing and assembling zucchini

  • Ask your butcher to grind loin, sausage, and bologna. Or do it in your home blender.
  • Mix the stuffing ingredients, mince, egg, Parmigiano, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
  • Wash the zucchini, remove the ends, and empty them with the zucchini scoop, removing the inner flesh but trying not to break the outside.
  • Stuff the zucchini with the filling by pushing the filling with your fingers inside the zucchini on both sides. If there is leftover filling, make meatballs.
  • In a pan, pour olive oil and add zucchini and meatballs. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes, turning the zucchini meatballs. Then, add passata, water, and a pinch of salt.
  • Cook semi-covered over medium-low heat on a medium or small stove for about 60 minutes, turning the zucchini halfway through. If the sauce thickens too much, add water.
  • At the end, taste the sauce and adjust the salt if necessary (remove the zucchini first).

Food tips

  • If serving the recipe as a main course, calculate 3-4 zucchini per person. Consider adding a few zucchini or a side dish if it is a one-pot meal.
  • Consider adding a few zucchini or a side dish if it is a one-pot meal.
  • Prepare the stuffing a few hours before using it; the flavor will be more intense.
  • You can cook stuffed zucchini the day before serving.
  • Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for a few days.
  • You can freeze stuffed zucchini with sauce and store it in the freezer for a few months.

Bologna's recipe

Bologna's recipes

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