Stuffed courgettes with sweet potato mash

Have you ever let a vegetable inspire you? It has happened to me many times but when I saw these spherical courgettes for the first time, I just couldn't resist. I had been cooking plenty with ”regular” courgettes but these immediately caught my imagination. I bought them and didn't quite know what to make. Then I decided to stuff them with other vegetables and bake. I happened to have couple of sweet potatoes at home so I made a mash out of them to accompany my courgettes. One courgette per an adult with some mash is a more than a filling meal.

Sweet potato mash

Start by peeling sweet potatoes and placing them in water to boil until soft. You might want to cut them to smaller pieces as they tend to be monstrous big.

When potatoes are cooked, mash them with a hand mixer and add some salt and butter. In this case I also baked the mash in the oven for it to become a brownish baked cover but you can leave it as it is if you want to.

Stuffed courgettes

Cut top bit off the courgettes and scoop their insides out until the outside is pretty thin but able to hold the stuffing in and so the courgettes can stand steadily. Keep the lids and insides as we're using them later. Chop other veg you want to use. I used closed cup mushrooms, onions and garlic that I quickly pre-fried in a pan.

Mix the pre-fried veg with the courgettes' insides which should be in quite small bits anyway. Add some grated cheese to the mix. You can basically put anything in there that you desire to eat.

Quickly fry the courgette shells in a pan in little bit of oil turning them around. Then place them into an oven dish. Stuff them with the veg and cheese mix, put the lids on them and let the whole thing bake until the courgettes are soft and stuffing is fully cooked and hot. They need around 15-20 minutes in 180 C.

You can stuff the traditional cucumber shaped courgettes as well: Cut them in half, remove some of the insides, put filling on and bake, simple!

Stay Hungry!