
Zucchini alla ricottaย

Zucchini alla ricotta my way
Do you want something light, tasty, easy and delicious for a hot summer day? Go for an Italian recipe. Try my suggestion: courgettes stuffed with ricotta or as Italians would say: Zucchini alla Ricotta.
I would eat this meal quite often, if you ask me. Contrary to that, I have made it only twice so far. Once in London, once in Romania. So there is enough time to make it in the near future. My inspiration is in a book I have written about ย it here: “Good Housekeeping All Colour Party Cook Book” 1992.
I would also add another recipe for a home-made sauce. This sauce works with everything, from pasta, pizza to this recipe. So you must make it too, but don’t worry, it is very easy.
Let’s get to ย work, pardon me, to read. ๐
Zucchini alla Ricotta
(Courgettes stuffed with Ricotta)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 8 even-sized courgettes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, skinned and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, skinned and crushed
- 175 g (6 oz) Ricotta cheese (if you don’t have Ricotta, try a fresh cheese)
- 4 tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried)
- 3 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
- fresh basil sprigs, to garnish
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
For the quick tomato sauce:
- 397 g (14 oz) can tomatoes
- 1 tsp tomato purรฉe
- 1 small onion, skinned and chopped
- 1 clove garlic, skinned and crushed (optional)
- pinch of dried basil
- pinch of sugar
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Method:
- Score the courgettes length-ways with the prongs of a fork, then cut them in half lengthways.
- Scoop out the flesh from the courgette halves with a sharp-edged teaspoon. Leave a thin margin of flesh next to the skin and make sure not to scoop out all the flesh from the bottoms or the skin may break.
- Blanch the courgette shells in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Drain, then stand skin side up on absorbent paper.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, garlic and scooped-out flesh from the courgettes. Fry gently for about 5 minutes until soft and lightly coloured, then turn into a bowl and add the Ricotta, basil, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well.
- Spoon the Ricotta filling into the drained courgette shells, dividing it equally between them.
- Make the sauce now. The recipe says 300 ml but this sauce makes about 450 ml (3/4 pint). But as they say, there is never enough sauce, so use it all. So, put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. If you don’t have either of these, try mash everything or just add them directly to a saucepan. The sauce is perfectly fine like this too.
- Heat in a saucepan for 10-15 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Pour the tomato sauce into the bottom of a shallow ovenproof dish which is large enough to hold the courgettes in a single layer. Place the filled courgettes in the dish side by side. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
- Bake in the oven atย 200ยฐC, 400ยฐF, Gas Mark 6 for 20 minutes. Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil sprigs.
Bon appetite!