Stuffed Vine Leaves and Zucchini 

Today’s dish is a bit different. It took me a lot to learn and when I finally did it I was so happy and proud of myself for what I came up with, Mehshi Warak Enab w Koussa is a pure Levant dish where every country adds its unique touch to it.

Mehshi (“stuffed” in Arabic) is a traditional culinary delight in the Levant region. It involves hollowing out various vegetables and filling them with either meat or vegetarian rice stuffing. Some of the commonly used vegetables for Mehshi include:

1. Bell Peppers
2. Potatoes
3. Onions
4. Cucumbers
5. Eggplants
6. Chilli Peppers
7. Cabbage
8. Zucchini
9. Vine Leaves

Among these, Personally, I have a soft spot for zucchini and vine leaves and it’s one of my favourites!

COOKING VIDEO

Ingredients:

Zucchini (1 kg)

Grape leaves (800 g jar)

For the stuffing:

Short-grain rice (2 cups)

Minced beef (250 g)

Minced lamb (250 g)

Seven spice (1 teaspoons)

Black pepper (1/2 teaspoons)

salt (1 tablespoon)

Vegetable oil (1/4 cup)

For the stock:

Lemon juice (1cup)

Beef stock 

Warm water

Minced garlic 

For Assembly:

Lamb chops (1 kg)

Garlic (1 head)

2 Large Onions 

Now let’s dig in and start cooking this yummy dish together …

Wash 1 kilogram of zucchini. Cut off the top and throw it. Then hollow out the inner part and set it aside for a good next-day breakfast. Place the zucchini in cold water. Meanwhile, remove the vine leaves from the jar, wash them in a strainer, and then boil them for 7 minutes. Strain them again and leave them aside.

Now let’s prepare the filling for both. I prefer a half-and-half meat mix for this dish: half lamb and half beef. Combine 250 grams of each meat, mix them well together, and then add the following spices: 7 spices, black pepper, cinnamon, and salt. Wash 2 cups of short-grain rice until the cloudy water turns transparent. Strain the rice well and add it to the meat mixture. Then, add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and mix everything together until you have a gooey mixture.

Note: Both the zucchini and vine leaves will be cooked in the same pot.

Now we start with the assembling and filling. Place 1 kilogram of thick lamb steak at the bottom of a large pot. Cut one or two large onions into thick slices and place them over the steak. Peel a full head of garlic, sprinkle it at the bottom, and add some potato slices. 

Next, Place a vine leaf on a flat surface, shiny side down. Add a line of the meat mixture (about a teaspoon, depending on the leaf size). Fold the sides in, then fold the top like an envelope shape. Roll the leaf tightly to ensure the filling stays inside and place it in the pot. Repeat this process until all the leaves are filled. Next, fill the zucchini with the mixture, leaving about 1 cm empty from the top, and place them on top of the leaves.

For the stock, add 1 cup of lemon juice, 5 minced cloves of garlic, dried mint, salt, and a Maggi meat cube. Add enough warm water to cover everything in the pot. Place a plate upside down, pressing it down on everything, and then close the pot. 

Let it cook for 1 hour and a half on medium heat. After that, open the pot, place the heat on low, and let it simmer.

Turn the heat off try to pour the excess water out of the pot, remove the plate and then flip the pot into a wide deep pan.

And now Enjoy your delicious Mehshi Warak Enab w Koussa! 

SAHTENN