EQUIPMENT:
- Corer or long boning knife
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cup
- Cutting Board
- Glass baking dish 9x13.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup of Arborio (Italian) rice
- 1 small onion
- 8 medium sized zucchini
- 1/2 lb of ground meat; a mixture of beef or lamb
- 1 t of salt
- 1/2 t of allspice pepper and 1 T of pepper
- 2 T of vegetable oil
- 1 (16 oz) can of crushed tomatoes.
PROCEDURE:
- Gather and measure all the ingredients
- Soak the rice in cold water for 2 hours
- Medium dice the onion
- Remove a small amount of the large end of the zucchinis
- Using the corer or the long boning knife, remove the core of the zucchinis from the larger end (leave the stem end intact)
- For the stuffing, combine the rice, the meat, 1/2 of the salt, 1/2 of the pepper, and 1/2 of the allspice
- Gently fill the zucchinis by pressing the stuffing through the opening
- Place the onion and the vegetable oil in the baking dish and "Sauté" on P-9 for 1:00 then on P-5 until the onion becomes soft and translucent (about 2 - 3 minutes)
- Add the crushed tomatoes to the sautéed onion
- Add the remainder of the salt, pepper, and allspice
- Arrange the stuffed zucchinis in the glass baking dish
- Spoon the tomato/ onion mixture over the zucchinis
- Cover the glass baking dish with a plastic wrap and puncture once with a knife to vent
- Cook on P-10 for 5:00 minutes
- Cook on P-5 for 30 minutes
- Put the zucchinis on a serving platter and the sauce in a saucer.
CHEF's TIP:
If the mixture is fluid enough, fill a plastic storage bag and slice off one of the bottom corner. Use this as a "pastry bag" to fill the mushrooms - this is especially important if you've doubled or tripled the recipe and have many mushrooms to fill. Otherwise, a Parisianne Scoop (or "Melon Baller") may be used to evenly portion and fill the caps.