Koosa Mahshi Syrian Stuffed Squash Recipe 55 Food

COUSA MASHI - ARABIC STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Soak the rice in warm water for at least 1/2 an hour.
• Drain rice and mix together with ground meat, spices and olive oil.
• Cut the tops off of the cousa and eggplant. Discard.
• Core cousa and eggplant scraping out the insides so 1/4 inch is left all around. (Insides of cousa can be saved for making cousa mutabbal. See end of recipe).
• Carefully cut tops of off green peppers so they can be replaced after stuffing.
• Clean insides of green peppers.
• Stuff vegetables with rice mixture leaving some room for the rice to expand when cooked.
• Fill large pot with vegetables.
• Cut tomatoes to fill blender.
• Add 2/3 blender with water.
• Add tomato paste and salt.
• Mix in blender until smooth.
• Pour tomato sauce over vegetables.
• Add more water if necessary to cover vegatables.
• Cook, uncovered, at a simmer for one and a half hours or until vegetables are soft and rice is done. As long as the sauce is there, you can cook slowly for a longer period for a tastier dish.
• Occasionally cover with additional water to keep sauce from drying out.
• Add crushed garlic and mint to pot for a few minutes.
• Serve stuffed vegetables on a tray.
• Put sauce in a serving bowl to be added if desired.
• Note: Do not put a lid on the vegetables until they are completely cool or they may burst open.
• Cousa Mutabbal, a salad served like hummus, can be made by simmering the contents of the cousa in a small saucepan until cooked. Add a little tahini, yogurt, salt and pepper. Serve with olive oil and crushed dried mint on top. Eat with pita bread.
• Fettat Cousa, a dish served in a 9x13 pan, can be served alongside as well, by tearing up small pieces of bread, generally pita, covered by the tomato sauce from the cousa mashi. Then cover with a sauce of yogurt, garlic, and salt. Top with pinenuts fried in olive oil (along with the oil).

KUSA MIHSHI - STUFFED LEBANESE SQUASH / CUCUZZA / KOOSA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Hollow out each zucchini using a zucchini / apple corer or small, flexible paring knife, leaving 1/8-inch-thick walls.
• Combine lamb, rice, 1 1/4 teaspoons marjoram, 3/4 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon mint, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, salt and cayenne in a medium bowl. Loosely stuff each zucchini with the lamb mixture. Place the stuffed zucchini in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
• Combine tomato sauce with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 3/4 teaspoon mint and 1/8 teaspoon allspice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then pour over the zucchini. Cover the pan with foil.
• Bake, turning the zucchini halfway through cooking, until the zucchini and rice are tender and the filling reaches 165ºF on an instant-read thermometer, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve the zucchini with the sauce.

LEBANESE KOOSA (STUFFED YELLOW SQUASH)

Steps:

• Cut stems from squash and scoop out seeds. Because of the small size of the squash, you may twirl a knife in the flesh to scrape the seeds. The most effective method is to take a flat handle silver spoon and use the handle end to scrape out the seeds. You may rinse out the inside with water.
• Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat.
• Slice onion and add to hot olive oil.
• Let fry for about 3-5 minutes while you make the stuffing.
• In a large bowl, combine lamb, rice, and spices. The best method is to get in it with your hands and just smoosh and mix without any sort of utensils.
• Add cans of tomato sauce and diced tomato to the onions.
• Stuff squash with mixture. Leave about a half inch to a quarter inch of room at the end as the rice will expand. Also, do not pack too tightly as the expanding rice will break the squash.
• Add the stuffed squashes to the pan.
• Chop the garlic cloves into fine pieces and sprinkle between the squash in the pan.
• Add water to just cover the squash and let simmer over medium heat for 40 minutes.
• Squeeze a few drops fresh lemon juice over squash and sprinkle a pinch of mint.
• Allow to cook another 10 minutes or so.
• **Note** I have made this several more times and revised only the cooking time slightly. I found it somewhat easier to cut the squashes in half from the start. Additionally, I always test the filling to make sure the rice is fully cooked.