The variety of marrows are endless, but I spotted some marrows in our local Turkish shop and decided that my first post was going to be stuffed marrows (qarabaghli mimli bil laham). I recently had stuffed marrows in Malta (more than once mind you) when the family and I went in May for ten days. Marrows were in season and they were delicious!
The marrows I have used for this recipe are the light green medium length marrows. In London they also seem to be called white courgette. The marrows I saw in Malta in May were round but tasted the same. If you can’t find these type of marrows then you can use courgettes (zucchini) or any other marrows instead. I hope you enjoy my recipe. My family made this recipe using many different types of marrows we grew. I remember these super long looking marrows dangling from one of our sheds. My nunna Berta in Malta also used to stuff these super long marrows.
- 4 marrows cut in half
- 500 grams pork mince
- 3 medium sized potatoes sliced thinly in rounds
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 3 garlic gloves thinly sliced
- 2 eggs beaten
- 50 grams grated cheese
- 6 tablespoons tomato paste
- Small bunch of parsley finely chopped
- 250 ml water
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- foil to cover marrows
- 2 medium sized oven dishes
- Place potatoes at the bottom of the oven dishes.
- Scoop out the flesh of the marrows. Chop and place in a large bowl.
- In a frying pan add the olive oil and fry the onion and garlic for ten minutes on medium heat. Then add the mince and 4 tablespoons of tomato paste. Fry on medium heat for twenty minutes or until the meat is well browned. Then add the chopped marrow flesh and cook for a further 5 minutes
- Set aside and allow to cool for an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 170oC.
- To the meat mixture add the eggs, grated cheese, parsley and salt and pepper. Mix together.
- Fill the marrows well with the mixture and place on top of the potatoes in the two dishes.
- Mix together the water, 2 tablespoons tomato paste and two tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle over the marrows and potatoes.
- Drizzle some more oil over the marrows and potatoes.
- Place in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove and cover both dishes with foil to prevent burning. Cook for a further 45 minutes. Remove foil and if necessary cook for a further fifteen minutes.
Enjoy!