Moroccan Stuffed Zucchini & Peppers

By OhApril

Why just stuff zucchini? This recipe is inspired by the flavors of Morocco and stuff both zucchini and peppers with a perfect blend of seasonings with rice and eggplant.

Ingredients

• RAS EL HANOUT:
• 2 medium zucchini
• 2 medium red bell peppers
• 2 cups brown rice, cooked (any rice you like) or quinoa
• 4 tablespoons Ras el Hanout spice blend (recipe below)
• 1 small eggplant, peel removed and cubed
• 1 cup chick peas, cooked
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts
• Lemon zest from one lemon
• Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 75mins

Preparation

Step 1

Mix all of the spices for the Ras el Hanout spice blend together in a small bowl.


Cook rice (or quinoa) using any method suitable for type of rice you have chosen and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Trim off tops of peppers and set aside. Remove seeds and discard.

Slice zucchini in half vertically. Slice halves in half horizontally. Two zucchini will produce 8 pieces. Remove seeds and interior of zucchini and chop into small pieces. Place in a separate bowl.

Place peppers and zucchini on parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until slightly soft. Set aside until cool.

Remove skin from eggplant and chop into small pieces. Add the eggplant to the bowl with zucchini. Stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon Ras el Hanout seasoning, making sure pieces of eggplant and zucchini are well coated.

Place eggplant and zucchini mixture on parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

In medium saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until soft. Stir in tomato and 1 tablespoon Ras el Hanout. Cook until tomato is soft, about 5 mins. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in eggplant/zucchini mixture, rice, chickpeas, remaining Ras el Hanout, parsley, pine nuts, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Stuff peppers and zucchini with the rice mixture. Arrange on parchment-lined baking dish with pepper tops. Bake for 30 minutes. Place pepper tops on peppers and serve warm.