Zucchini gemista

Cook 40 mins

Serves 6 as a shared dish

'The zucchini gemista is such a traditional, classic dish and every household in Greece has their own way of bringing it to life," says Olympus Dining's head chef, Ozge Kalvo. "Like so many great Greek dishes, the vegetable is the hero. We use grey baby zucchinis stuffed with vegan rice mix, and fresh herbs and spices."

20 baby grey (or other small) zucchini

SPICE MIX

3/4 tsp allspice

3/4 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

PEPPER SAUCE

50g Turkish red pepper paste

3 tsp olive oil

STUFFING

250g short grain rice, washed

1/2 bunch each of flat leaf parsely and dill, coarsely chopped

2 green shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 large red onion, diced

25g garlic, grated (about 5 cloves)

250gm ripe roma tomatoes, blended

50g red pepper paste

50g pomegranate molasses

50g olive oil

For spice mix, grind whole spices in a mortar and pestle until finely ground. Stir through ground spices and set aside.
For pepper sauce, combine ingredients in a bowl with enough eater to thin to a sauce (about 300ml) and season to taste. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 220C. For the stuffing, mix all the ingredients except the zucchini.
Cut the tops off the zucchini and remove the inside flesh of the lebanese zucchinis with a spoon, stuff with the rice mixture (you may have some leftover) and place zucchini in a large baking dish. Pour pepper sauce over, season to taste and top with baking paper and cover with aliminium foil. Bake until zucchini are tender and rice is cooked (20-30 minutes). Remove the foil, then return the tray to the oven and bake for 5-10 mins until colored on top.