By Angela Oliva
This is a typical Ligurian recipe, however each family will have their own special version of it as the good thing about ‘ripieni’ is that you could add or swap ingredients according to your taste. You could even make a vegetarian version by substituting the ham or mortadella with ricotta cheese. It’s up to you!
- 8 medium courgettes
- 2 eggs
- 1 white onion
- 3 tablespoon of milk
- 1 thick slice of ham (or mortadella) diced
- 1 boiled potato smashed with a fork
- grated parmesan cheese
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 25-50ml olive oil
- 300g fine bread crumbs
- salt and pepper to your taste
Here is how you make them:
Boil your courgettes in salted water for 10 minutes and let them cool down. Then slice each courgette in half lengthwise and scoop out the pulp in a bowl and keep aside.
Chop up finely the onion and fry it until golden, then add the pulp of the courgette, a pinch of salt and the thyme. Cook for 10 minutes and put aside until it has cooled down or a bit.
In a food processor, whizz the ham (or mortadella) with the parmesan cheese and the milk. Now mix together the ham (mortadella) mix with the pulp of the courgette and add the rest of the ingredients (smashed potatoes, olive oil, and eggs).
You can now lay your hollow courgettes on an oiled baking tray and fill the vegetables with the mix. Run a fork on each courgette lengthwise in order to get a ridged surface and sprinkle with bread crumbs. This will give them a nice golden, crunchy top.
Cook for 20-30 minutes at 180ºC and leave them too cool down for 5 minutes before serving.
In my family, filled courgettes were a very popular dish and an easy one to make with kids. It’s also a good way to get children to eat vegetables as my mum used to fill not just courgettes, but aubergines, peppers and onions (split in layers). If you choose other vegetables other than courgettes, however, there is no need to boil them.
