At this time of the year you can find all kinds of zucchini on the market, so let’s make some stuffed yellow zucchini today.
Comparing to other kinds of zucchini the yellow ones are so much easier to stuff and they look very decorative. As you can see in the picture, my son eats them with tzatziki salad and lots of turmeric powder 😀
Start by pan-frying finely chopped onion on olive oil. Add salt and smoked sweet paprika. After a few minutes, add minced meat, squashed garlic and keep frying, stirring from time to time. In the meantime cut off the top of the zucchini and scoop out the centre. Chop the centres and add them to the meat mixture in the pan. Put some tomato paste or one roughly chopped tomato. Make sure the meat has started getting a nice colour before you add zucchinis. You do not want your meat to be cooked, It should be fried (believe me, it makes such a difference in taste). Add more spices according to your preferences (pepper, turmeric, chilly…) and chopped parsley. Optionally you can also add a cup of half-boiled rice in the mixture.
Stuff the zucchini and place them in a baking dish. Don’t worry if you have some filling left. You can always pour it in a small dish and bake it on the side.
Cook them in the preheated oven at 200°C for an hour, or until the zucchinis get soft (you can always check with a fork).
There is something magical about yellow food. It brings joy and warmth on the table. The same goes for yellow flowers. So, enjoy your stuffed yellow zucchini.
I read this years ago but somehow it remained in my mind. I’d love to share with you what a great writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez said about yellow flowers:
“Nothing awful can happen to me if there are yellow flowers around. To be absolutely safe, I need yellow flowers, preferably yellow roses, and to be surrounded by women”.
Gnocchi leftovers – boiled the day before. Well, it sometimes happens that I boil too much gnocchi. I then pan fry some of them on butter to get a golden colour. I keep the rest in the fridge until I find use for them. You can then add to your gnocchi whatever you have in the fridge ( fruits, vegetables, cheese…) and make a whole new meal. It’s even better if you have some gravy, but if not, the butter will do.
Today I grilled some pineapple cubes on butter, seasoned them and added them to the gnocchi leftovers from the fridge. It turned up being really nice. I gave it to my son as a side dish to a burger and young peas.
For another quick and easy gnocchi recipe, click here 🙂
Kaiserschmarren – something what I call “quick version of pancakes”. This is traditionally Austrian dish, named by their Emperor Franc Joseph I. in translation it means Emperors crumbs. My son loves eating them for breakfast, with milk, as eating cereals.
Basically you should prepare same mixture as for the pancakes, just a little bit thicker. You can use any type of flour, this time my chose is chickpeas flour and I have replaced cow’s milk with rice milk. As this you get gluten and lactose free dish. The good thing is that you do not have to worry about tearing pancakes, this “mess like” dish is perfect solution for busy mornings.
In a bowl put flour (250gr), 3 eggs, pinch of salt, vanilla essence, 1 tbsp. of brown sugar and milk (250ml). Mix all well, and add the melted butter (30gr). For an extra taste you can add cinnamon and orange and lemon zest (or replace with a drop of orange or lemon essential oil).
Heat some butter in a large pan, pour in the mixture. When starts getting coloured on the bottom, start cutting, tearing and mixing the crumbs. You cannot fail, there is no specified shape of crumbs. Just keep mixing them, turning and cutting until all get nice golden-brown colour.
Make sure to use flat wooden spatula, to be able to cut the crumbs.
Serve Kaiserschmarren with milk, jam, compote, Greek yogurt or whatever your kids like.