Marrows filled with ricotta and baked in the oven (qarabaghli mimli bl-irkotta)
 
Cook time
Total time
 
A great recipe during Lent or when you don't feel like meat
Author:
Cuisine: Maltese
Ingredients
  • 4 - 5 onions sliced
  • 6 - 7 medium sized potatoes sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 tablespoon dried or fresh thyme
  • 5 medium oblong marrows (light green courgette or zucchini) cut length ways in halve with the middle flesh removed (don't throw out the flesh)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (plus some more to garnish)
  • 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (or any similar hard cheese)
  • 300 grams ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • Nutmeg
  • 600ml vegetable or chicken stock (if not fasting)
  • 4 large tablespoons kunserva (tomato puree)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Foil
  • Large casserole dish
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 180oC.
  2. In a large casserole dish place the sliced onions at the bottom.
  3. On top of the onions place the sliced potatoes and crushed garlic.
  4. Mix 300 ml of your stock and 2 tablespoons kunserva. Place all over the potatoes.
  5. Sprinkle with your thyme, seasoning and a few tablespoons olive oil.
  6. In a bowl mix the ricotta, hard cheese, parsley, egg, some seasoning and 2 pinches of nutmeg.
  7. Dice the flesh of 2 of the marrows which you left aside. Add this to the ricotta mixture.
  8. With your ricotta mixture fill your marrows (you should have 10 halved marrows to fill).
  9. Place the marrows on top of the potatoes and sprinkle some more olive oil over your marrows.
  10. Season again.
  11. Cover with foil.
  12. Leave in the oven for 1 hour.
  13. Mix the remaining stock (300ml) plus the remaining kunserva (2 tablespoons) together.
  14. Remove the dish from the oven and remove the foil (save this).
  15. Gently pour over the stock mixture on to your marrows and potatoes (do this gently so as not to disturb your ricotta mixture in your marrows).
  16. Cover with the foil again and place in the oven for a further 50 minutes.
  17. Remove from the oven and remove the foil.
  18. Check that the marrows and potatoes are cooked by pricking with a fork.
  19. Place back in the oven without the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
  20. Garnish with some more parsley and serve.
  21. The remaining flesh of the marrows can be used to make a tomato piquant sauce which can be served with the marrows or with pasta.
Recipe by A Maltese Mouthful at https://www.amaltesemouthful.com/marrows-filled-ricotta-baked-oven-qarabaghli-mimli-bl-irkotta/