Cookbook: “Kabak Dolma” (Turkish Stuffed Zucchini)

Turkish people love to stuff food. There are variations of “dolma” (Turkish for “stuffed”) that are served warm or cold, have meat in them or are vegetarian (or even vegan). Also, “dolma” can be in the form of stuffed vegetables or in versions in which you roll the stuffing into leaved vegetables like cabbage. This recipe is for a stuffed, warm version with ground beef. Feel free to exchange the zucchini with any vegetable (paprika, potato, tomato, aubergine etc) and use the same filling (you can also replace the meat with cheese or tofu) to create different kinds of “dolma”.

I originally wrote down this recipe for our international school‘s International Cookbook by the way. So be prepared for more 😉

Ingredients:

• 1 kg medium sized zucchini (traditionally the lighter coloured, smaller, cylindrical ones but any type will do)

(For the filling:)

• 250 gr ground beef
• A little less than 1 cup of rice (German Milchreis works well)
• 2 grated tomatoes (or 1/2 cup of Passata)
• 1 large onion (chopped into very small cubes)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of dried mint
• 1/2 cup of fresh parsley
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of black pepper

(For the sauce:)

• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil or butter
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 pinch of salt
• 200 ml hot water

Instructions:

1. Wash the zucchinis and thinly peel their skins with a potato peeler. Depending on the shape of your zucchinis, if they are cylindrical, cut them in half (creating two shorter cylinders) or if you have the round ones, cut of the top hard part.
2. With a small spoon, carefully peel out the inside of the zucchini, creating cylindrical – or if you had the round type of zucchini – round little bowls. Don’t forget, you want space for your filling but also need the zucchini to cook without breaking apart. You should aim for leaving half a cm thickness of zucchini wall all around.
3. Place you “zucchini bowls” into a pot. Their openings should face upwards and they should all be placed tightly next to each other so that they keep each other from falling over. Make sure you have the right size of pot for your amount of zucchinis. For now, put the pot with zucchinis aside.
4. In a bowl, mix the ground beef, rice, dried mint, chopped parsley, chopped onion, tomato paste, 50 ml of olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper.
5. Fill the zucchini with this mixture. Leave a little bit of empty space on the top of each zucchini, as the filling will quill while cooking.
6. Mix 200 ml of hot water, 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, olive oil or butter and salt. Slowly pour over the zucchini you have lined & filled up in the pot.
7. Add 250 ml of boiling water to the pot, close the lid and cook the dolma over medium heat until the rice is swollen. Take a grain of rice from one of the dolmas with a fork and either taste or squeeze it to make sure it’s fully cooked. This will tell you that your dolma is ready.
8. You can serve your dolma with plain or garlic yogurt on top or on the side.

Afiyet olsun! (Bon Appetit!)

Photo Credits: Yelda Uysan

Instagram: @pretty_zavazingos