Stuffed courgettes filled with spiced ground lamb, baked in a smooth tomato-harissa sauce. It takes about an hour start to finish, and most of that time is the oven doing the work — you’re looking at one skillet and one baking dish for the whole meal.
About the ingredients
- Harissa: Most large supermarkets stock it, but the heat level varies a lot by brand. Taste before you add the full amount — rose harissa is milder, Tunisian-style is hotter.
- Ground lamb: Higher fat content than beef, which keeps the filling moist during baking. If you substitute ground beef, go for 80/20 rather than lean.
- Cinnamon in a savory dish: It’s doing real work here — it rounds out the acidity of the tomatoes. Don’t skip it or swap it for mixed spice.
- Tomato paste: A full tube or a couple of tablespoons concentrate the sauce quickly without extra simmering time.
- Yogurt for serving: Plain full-fat yogurt works best. Greek yogurt is fine but thin it slightly with water so it drizzles rather than sits in a lump.
What makes this version work
Two things matter most. First, cooking the sauce in the skillet before pouring it over the courgettes — this concentrates the tomato flavor and drives off excess liquid so the courgettes don’t steam and go soggy in the oven. Second, blending the sauce smooth before baking. A smooth sauce coats the courgette boats evenly and keeps the lamb filling moist all the way through cooking, whereas a chunky sauce tends to slide off and pool at the bottom of the dish. Both steps happen in the same pan, so there’s no extra equipment involved.
Mistakes to avoid
- Cutting the courgettes too thin: If the walls of your courgette boats are less than half an inch thick, they’ll collapse in the oven before the filling is cooked through. Pick medium courgettes — large ones have more flesh to work with.
- Undercooking the lamb filling: Ground lamb must reach 160°F (71°C) internally. Press a meat thermometer into the center of the filling before pulling the dish from the oven — don’t judge by color alone.
- Overcrowding the baking dish: If the courgettes are wedged in too tightly, the sauce can’t circulate and the filling steams rather than roasts. Leave a little space between each boat.
- Adding the yogurt while the dish is still very hot: It will split and look curdled. Let the courgettes rest for five minutes off the heat before drizzling. Skip the garnish of extra cinnamon on top — not worth the extra dish just to hold a pinch of spice.
- Watery courgettes ruining the sauce: If your courgettes are very fresh and firm, no problem. If they’ve been sitting in the fridge a few days, lightly salt the cut surfaces, wait ten minutes, and pat dry before filling — this draws out moisture that would otherwise thin the sauce during baking.
Hearty Stuffed Courgettes
Ingredients
2 medium courgettes also called zucchini (Courgettes French / Zucchini Italian)
200 grams ground lamb (minced lamb)
1 small yellow onion
1 clove garlic
1 medium tomato- 1 tablespoon harissa spice
- 1 handful fresh herbs
- 1 tin tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pinch sugar (white sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion, garlic, tomato and herbs.
- Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and fry the onion and garlic in a bit of oil for a couple of minutes until soft. Stir in the spice mix, allowing it to become fragrant for a minute or so. Then add the mince, breaking it up as it browns.
- When all the mince is brown, add the tomato and the herbs. Allow to simmer for up to 15 minutes to let the flavours blend.
- Meanwhile, heat the tin of tomatoes together with the tomato paste, sugar and cinnamon. After a few minutes, blend with an immersion blender (if you don’t have one, then use passata); continue to cook down until slightly darker red, around 15 minutes.
- Lay the courgettes on a board and cut in half lengthwise; scoop out the middle of the courgettes with a teaspoon. You should end up with four’ boats with a skin of 2/3 millimetre. Discard the centres as they’ll likely be mushy – if they’re crisp looking, they’ll finely chop and add to the mince.
- Once the meat and sauce are finished, then you’re ready to stuff.
- Take a courgette boat and gently fill it with the meat mixture; continue for all four. Pour the sauce into the baking dishes you’re using and place the stuffed courgettes on top. Bake the courgettes at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 to 35 minutes until the courgettes are a little soft and the dish looks and smells yummy!
- Serve with couscous, rice, or cauliflower ‘rice’ topped with a dollop of yoghurt, perhaps sprinkled with cinnamon.
Nutrition
Frequently asked questions
Can I make this ahead and reheat it?
Yes — assemble the whole dish, cover it, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking. Add about 10 extra minutes to the bake time since everything is starting cold from the fridge.
Can I use ground beef instead of ground lamb?
Ground beef works fine. Use 80/20 fat ratio — leaner beef will make the filling dry since courgettes don’t add much moisture to the filling the way a sauce-heavy dish would.
My courgettes are huge — does that change anything?
Large courgettes need a few extra minutes in the oven and the filling quantity may not stretch to fill them properly. Scoop out a bit more of the flesh, chop it finely, and stir it into the lamb mixture to bulk it up.
How do I know when the dish is actually done?
Check the lamb filling with an instant-read thermometer — it needs to hit 160°F (71°C). The courgette should be tender when pierced with a knife but not falling apart.
Can I freeze leftovers?
You can, but the courgette texture suffers — it goes quite soft after freezing and thawing. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to three days and reheat better in the oven than the microwave.
If you liked this one
- Spicy Beef Stuffed Peppers
- Savory Stuffed Onion Dolma
- Savory Lebanese Lamb Pastries
- Levantine Lamb Za’atar Flatbread
