Name: Zucchini Pulp Sauté
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 3 cups Zucchini Pulp ((or diced zucchini)); 1 lg. Onion; 1 lg. Tomato; ¼ cup Olive Oil; 1 tb. Tomato Paste; 1 tsp. Salt; ½ tsp. Black Pepper; ½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Koosa Mahshi (stuffed zucchini), the incredibly popular Lebanese dish is made by hallowing out zucchinis and stuffing them with a spiced rice and meat filling. Have you ever wondered what to do with the pulp of the zucchinis? This is a simple and delicious appetizer or side dish, that is made with the innards of zucchinis.

Zucchini Pulp?

I am not exactly sure of the origins of this dish, but what I do know, is that Arab women especially the older generation, hate wasting food. Because of this, they are incredibly resourceful with food and leftovers. My grandmother is the type that will eat the same dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner before throwing it away. So, growing up anytime my mom would be making Koosa Mahshi for dinner, my grandmother would always sauté the pulp of the zucchini into a dish and serve it to my grandfather and father for breakfast the next day. Sometimes she would just sauté it with some eggs and season with salt and pepper and other times she would make a dish like this one.

While the recipe does use zucchini innards, you can definitely just substitute any finely diced type of squash or zucchini and get very similar flavors. This dish uses only a handful of ingredients, that most well stocked pantries have on hand.

To make this Zucchini Pulp Sauté, I begin by roughly chopping the zucchini innards so they are fairly uniform in size. I then sauté them for about 7 minutes or until most of the liquids from the zucchini have evaporated. Then I add some olive oil and a chopped onion and sauté for a few more minutes before adding a diced tomato. I like to add a tablespoon of tomato paste for color and then season with salt and black pepper. If you can handle some heat, I recommend adding some crushed red pepper flakes or Aleppo pepper for a nice kick.

This Zucchini Pulp Sauté is served with pita bread warm, at room temperature or even cold! It makes a delicious appetizer, side dish or even healthy breakfast.

STEP 1

Roughly chop the zucchini pulp into about one inch in size.
Finely dice the onion and tomato and set aside.

STEP 2

In a large skillet, sauté the zucchini pulp for about seven minutes over medium heat until most the liquids released have evaporated.

STEP 3

Add the olive oil to the skillet, along with the diced onion.
Cook together for about five minutes until the onion has softened.

Add the diced tomato and cook for five more minutes.

STEP 4

Add the tomato paste, and season the zucchini and tomato sauté with salt, black pepper and the optional red pepper flakes and cook for just a few more minutes.

Serve Zucchini Pulp Sauté with pita bread and fresh veggies and olives.