Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

5 from 3 votes

These Greek Stuffed Zucchini Flowers are stuffed with rice, fresh herb, and lemon filling. Baked in the oven with olive oil until very soft and mellow!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 50

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: healthy, Oven baked, vegetables

Servings:

Calories: 187kcal

Ingredients

For The Zucchini Flowers:

10 zucchini flowers
7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup water or vegetable stock

For The Filling:

6 tablespoons olive oil
100 grams white onion finely chopped
85 grams spring onion minced
2 garlic cloves minced
75 grams zucchini grated
100 grams (½ cup) long grain white rice like Carolina
180 grams (1 medium) tomato grated skin discarded
1½ tablespoon fresh dill finely chopped
5 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
⅔ tablespoon fresh spearmint finely chopped
½ lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

Prepare The Zucchini Flowers:

Carefully remove the stems from inside the zucchini flowers. Dip them in batches in a bowl filled with cold water and let them soak for a minute or two. Then hold them from the bottom and shake them gently. Transfer on paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.
Preheat oven to 150°C / 300°F.

Make The Filling:

Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
Add the white onion, drop the heat to medium-low, and cook for about 10 minutes. Until it gets really soft and caramelized.
Add the spring onion and garlic. Raise the heat to medium-high. Cook for 2 minutes more.
Stir in the rice and saute for 1-2 minutes. Squeeze the grated zucchini a bit to remove excess water and add to the pan as well. Cook for a minute and add the grated tomato. Cook for 2 minutes more.
Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the fresh herbs and ½ lemon zest, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Make The Stuffed Zucchini Flowers:

Stuff each zucchini flower with about 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of the filling. This will depend on the size of the flowers. Make sure you fill the zucchini flower only by half.
Gently twist the top half of the flower to close the filling. Place it in a small baking dish tucking the twisted top under the flower to secure it. (See Note 1 below). A casserole dish with a lid or a Dutch oven could work also, especially if you're making a bigger batch.
Drizzle the 7 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 4 tablespoons of lemon juice on top of the flowers. Season with salt and pepper. (See Note 2 below).
Pour ½ cup water (or vegetable stock) into the dish.
Cover with aluminum foil securing it well all around.
Bake for 1 hour and a half then uncover the dish and bake for 10 minutes more to give some color on the top of the flowers. Remove from the oven.
Let the food stand for about 30 minutes before serving this enhances the flavors even further. If you prefer you can leave it inside the oven with the door open.
Serve with a piece of feta cheese or a scoop of Greek yogurt.

Notes

Note 1: The zucchini should be placed one next to the other without leaving space around them. I used a 23 x 23 cm (9 x 9 inch) baking dish for this recipe.

Note 2: The lemon flavor in this dish is quite strong. If you don't like lemon so much you may want to add 2 to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice instead of 4 on top of the zucchini flowers.

Nutrition