Kousa (Lebanese Recipe!)

5 from 1 vote

A delicius Lebanese comfort food of stuffed zucchini squash. Meat, spices, and rice fill these zucchini and they are simmered away in a tomato broth.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 15

Total Time1 25

Course: Lebanese Cooking, Main Course

Cuisine: Lebanese

Servings: people

Calories: 565kcal

10-12 Lebanese zucchini sometimes it can be called Mexican zucchini. OR just get 4 regular sized zucchini
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
½ cup rice
1 lb ground beef
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon pepper
6 garlic cloves
1 onion
fresh mint or parsley for garnish

Dice ½ of of the onion and reserve the other whole half for the stock pot.
Brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet over medium high heat. Add in the cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
When it is almost completely cooked through stir in the uncooked rice and set aside.
Cut off just the ends of the zucchini so they would stand flat and core out the inside (If you have full size zucchini, cut them in half to create 2 shorter zucchini and core them.)
Fill the zucchini about ¾ of the way up with the ground beef mixture (leaving room for the rice to expand as it cooks)
Carefully place the zucchini standing up like soldiers in a pot, It's ok if they lean over a little bit. You want them to be covered by the tomato broth!
If the whole amount of meat mixture doesn't fit in the zucchini, just scoop it into the bottom of the pot.
Pour in whole can of tomatoes, then fill the can up with water and pour that in as well. Add enough water to mostly cover the zucchini. Season the water with 2 teaspoon salt.
Cut the other ½ of the onion into quarters and wedge them In between the zucchini as well as the whole garlic cloves.
Over medium high heat, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 50 minutes until rice is cooked.
Serve 1 or 2 zucchini on a plate and spoon extra tomato broth over the top. Sprinkle with mint, parsley, and top with labneh

Don't throw away the cored-out zucchini flesh. You can use it in zucchini bread or add it to a vegetable stir fry.

Sometimes, the rice mixture oozes out of the Mexican squash and into the tomato paste - bummer! If you don't want your dish to be a mess before you can plate it, seal each piece of zucchini with a tomato wedge before cooking. Also, no over-stuffing, please!

Cover your Lebanese stuffed zucchini with a plate, just like grape leaves, to keep it in place. This trick works wonders for those who don't have a pressure cooker!

Soak and wash zucchini with salt water to make it firmer. You'd be surprised how much difference this extra step makes!