This post is also available in: Italiano
A few years ago while on vacation in Argentina, home of my Aunt Giuseppina, I noticed that the zucchini they sold in the market were mostly round and green, a variety that I’d never seen my usual grocery store. This year I found the round type that I had seen in Argentina and I bought two plants to test the new variety. Since the end of June I’ve begun harvesting them. The variety has a very soft heart that can easily be extracted so it becomes a small round container suitable for a succulent filling.
ZUCCHINI WITH THE TASTE OF THE SEA
Preparation time: 30 minutes | Cooking time: 60 minutes
(Serves 4)4 round zucchini
3 flounder fillets
10 large shrimp (shelled)
3 sage leaves
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of butter
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Martini Bianco
1 tablespoon of bread crumbs
1 teaspoon vegetable broth granules
½ teaspoon of turmeric
1 cup of water (used to cook the zucchini)
salt and pepper
- Bring a pot large enough to hold the zucchini to a boil with water. Add a little salt. When the water boils add the zucchini whole along with the stem. Boil for 8-10 minutes. With a slotted spoon remove the zucchini from the water and place them on a plate to cool. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
- Start with the bechamel sauce. Take 1 cup of the cooking water from the zucchini and heat it up on the stove along with the broth granules.
- In a small saucepan add the butter and melt it. When it starts to bubble, add the flour, stirring with a wooden spoon for a minute, slowly add the water used to cook the zucchini, stirring vigorously until the mixture to becomes a smooth cream. Turn off the heat season with salt and pepper
- In a pan pour the olive oil, sage, and garlic. As soon as the mixture starts to sizzle, add the shrimp and cook over high heat for two minutes, then pour in the Martini and continue cooking for another three minutes, season with salt and pepper. Remove the shrimp with a fork without the sauce and place in a dish.
- Cook the shrimp in the sauce sole fillets for 10 minutes, add salt and pepper.
- In a bowl to collect the shrimp and cut them into small pieces, add the flounder fillets, bread crumbs and sauce, minus a spoon that will serve to glaze the zucchini.
- Take the zucchini, cut the stem and a small cap. Using a spoon, gently remove the pulp, leaving a thin border all around. Fill with the mixture and recompose the zucchini with their shell.
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Place the zucchini in a baking dish in the bottom of the pan by putting 4 tablespoons of water with a little salt. Cover the zucchini with a sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper wet and squeezed.
- Cook covered for 30 minutes. Then remove the cover and continue cooking for another 15 minutes.
- Dilute a tablespoon of sauce kept aside with a little water until it becomes the consistency of a sauce, add the turmeric and heat for 1 minute. Serve in individual dishes pouring over each zucchini a little sauce.
