Stuffed Zucchini - pareve

This vegetarian entree for Sukkot is offered by Betty Newman in the Jewish Bulletin of Northern California. She writes: "To make the modern journey between kitchen and sukkah easier, it's a good idea to prepare easily transportable foods such as casseroles and salads. It's also nice to begin taking advantage of harvest foods, such as squash."

I think it's more than "nice." Squash was one of the New World foods which the Sephardic kitchen quickly adopted and adapted, when brought back by the merchants who traveled on the exploration expeditions to North and South
America. (Among them were ~conversos~ -- Jews who had ostensibly bowed to the pressure of the Inquisition and converted.) So, there is a very strong tradition for the use of various types of squash in Jewish cuisine.


1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup rice, uncooked
1 cup water
1/2 cup raisins or currants
1/3 cup dried apricots, cut up
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. each allspice, nutmeg
salt, pepper
1 tsp. fresh mint, minced
2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise, scooped out

Saut� onion and garlic in oil. Add rice, water, raisins or currants, and apricots; simmer until rice is almost done. Add remaining ingredients and fill in zucchini halves. Place zucchini in greased 8-inch square baking dish. Add a small amount of water and bake in 350-degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until squash is tender. Add more water if necessary.

Betty Newman - Jewish Bulletin of Northern California