Stuffed Provencal Vegetables Recipe from our Provence Cooking Vacation

Name: Stuffed Provencal Vegetables
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1200 g ground lamb meat; 6 tomatoes; 2 zucchinis; 3 eggplants; 1 onion; 6 garlic cloves; 3 tsp herbs (laurel, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage); 6 tsp breadcrumbs; 1 egg; Salt; Pepper; Olive oil

November 19, 2020 | By Liz SanFilippo Hall

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Seasonal vegetables are an important part of the Mediterranean diet, and that’s nowhere more apparent than during a cooking vacation in Provence. The wonderful sunny weather in this corner of France helps create the perfect climate for an array of vegetables, like zucchinis, eggplants, and tomatoes — just a few of the many options.

If you’re looking to feature fresh vegetables from your own garden (or from the local farmer’s market), try out this fabulous recipe. What makes this recipe particularly wonderful is that you can swap out the vegetables based on what’s in season!

Discover our Cuisine & Culture of Provence cooking vacation.

Stuffed Provencal Vegetables

Serves: 8
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Cook method: Bake

Ingredients

1200 g ground lamb meat
6 tomatoes
2 zucchinis
3 eggplants
1 onion
6 garlic cloves
3 tsp herbs (laurel, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage)
6 tsp breadcrumbs
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Check out all our cooking vacations in Provence.

Instructions:

1. Put a few teaspoons of olive oil in a pan and place on low heat. Once the oil has warmed, add the ground lamb meat, and brown. Add the minced onion and cook until it’s softened.
2. While the meat is browning, cut the vegetables. For the zucchini, slice into three cylindrical pieces of the same size, cut the eggplant lengthwise into two equal pieces, and remove the top of the tomatoes. Hollow out all of the vegetables, reserving what you scrape out of each of the vegetables. Turn the hollowed out vegetables upside down on a grill pan to dry them out.
3. Take the vegetables that you’ve scraped out (except from the tomato) and mix them together.
4. When the meat and onion has lightly browned, add the vegetable puree, and stir until all the excess water has evaporated.
5. Turn the heat off on the oven, and then add the crushed garlic cloves, herbs, and egg, and mix well.
6. Stir all the ingredients together, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Once it’s to your liking, stuff the vegetables with this mixture, top with the breadcrumbs, and then place on an oven-safe plate that has been lightly covered in olive oil.
7. Add some of the tomato juice between the stuffed vegetables and put in the oven at 150°C (300°F) and cook for 60 minutes.

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Our Provence cooking vacations feature accommodations in charming hotels and chambre d’hotes, as well as hands-on cooking classes and a number of excursions to local points of interest.