This is a vegetarian version of Irina Georgescu's stuffed courgette soup with soured cream from her book Carpathia. I used an apple corer to hollow out the courgettes. I used quinoa rather than rice which I cooked in a rice steamer. (I'm going to write a piece on rice and how you really must, as all Chinese do, get a rice steamer).
4courgettescut into 5cm chunks and hollowed out, reserve insides for stuffing
For the stuffing
300gsmoked quinoa or riceI used Hodmedods or any quinoa
600mlwater
1tspsea salt
1tbspolive oil
50gbutter
250gbutton mushroomssliced
2clovesgarlicminced
1/2glass white wineoptional
2preserved lemonspips removed, finely chopped
For the broth
1tbsptomato puree
6cherry tomatoesfinely sliced
1tspsea salt
To serve:
100mlGreek yoghurt
bunch fresh mint leaves to decorate
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180C
For the stuffing
Add the quinoa, water and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer until cooked and fluffy. The water should be absorbed (if not then drain).
In a frying pan, heat the butter and oil and add the mushrooms and garlic and fry until light golden.
Add the leftover courgette interiors, preserved lemon and white wine. Then stir in the cooked quinoa.
Stuff the courgettes with the mixture, packing it in fairly tightly. Set aside.
For the broth
In a medium saucepan, add all the ingredients and simmer.
To assemble
Pour the broth into a medium oven dish. Place the stuffed courgettes in the broth and cover the dish with foil. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the courgettes are cooked but not mushy.
Serve 3 pieces of courgette for each person with a generous ladle of broth.