Provencal Stuffed Garden Vegetables

Serves 4-6

  

Yes, I made and photographed these before Fielding arrived. I was actually kind of a kitchen tornado in the days preceding his arrival—I must have sensed it, because we came home to some tasty leftovers and snacks and, thank goodness, a manageable overflow from the garden (boy did we grow one hell of a zucchini during our 30-hr hospital stay).

6-8 stuffable vegetables, such as tomatoes, onions, pattypan squash, etc.

1 lb ground meat (I used turkey) or sausage

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

5-6 large mushrooms

1 C chopped fresh basil

1 15-oz. diced tomatoes

1 C uncooked brown rice

1 1/2 C water or broth

1/2 C diced cured black olives

salt

grated parmesan

bread crumbs

First hollow out your vegetables, saving all of the innards. I used both a melon baller and a grapefruit spoon, depending on the shape and texture of the vegetable.

   

Next, sauté the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the ground meat or sausage and cook until no longer pink. Add the mushrooms and basil and continue sautéing until soft.

Add the rice, diced tomatoes, vegetable inards (I pulsed them in the food processor beforehand) and water/broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

   

If your vegetables are especially dense or big, as onions and pattypan squash are, you should parboil them for about 10 minutes before stuffing. Otherwise just fill the cavities with the rice mixture, and top with finely grated parmesan and bread crumbs.

    

Mix the remaining rice with more grated parmesan and spread it in a 9 x 13 in. pan. Place the stuffed vegetables on top. Cover loosely with foil and bake for one hour at 350 degrees.