Very cheap and filling. An all in one meal nothing else required. Not as difficult as you think to hollow out the vegetable as long as you have a long thin bladed knife and a small metal spoon on the end of a long handle.

• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 450 ml water
• 2 small green peppers
• 2 medium size courgettes
• 2 small to medium aubergines
• 2 medium sized onions
• 300 g minced beef (twice through the mincer)
• Same amount in volume of paella (short grain) rice as meat.
• 1 large onion
• Olive oil
• About 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander and fresh parsley chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• Salt and pepper
• Cocktail sticks

You need a wide shallow pan with a lid or a wok with a well fitting lid. Something you can tuck all your stuffed vegetables into fairly snugly

1. Put the tomato puree, beef stock cube, water and cinnamon stick into the pan and bring to the boil, gently boil for about 10 minutes then turn off the heat.
2. Meanwhile prepare the 2 small green peppers, 2 medium size courgettes and 2 small to medium aubergines by standing them upright and taking off the top. Then scooping out the insides. It helps to chop at the flesh from the inside with a knife then scoop out the flesh, you can throw away the insides but not the top this will be the “lid”. You want a nice cylindrical contained for your stuffing to be cooked in. Prepare the 2 medium sized onions in the same way but keep the scooped out onion on one side.
3. Put the minced beef into a mixing bowl, add about the same amount of the paella rice into the bowl and mix well.
4. Chop the large onion and the scooped out onion into small bits and fry gently in the olive oil until soft and just lightly browned. Add this mixture to the meat and rice along with the finely chopped fresh coriander and fresh parsley, ground cumin, ground coriander and salt and pepper to taste
5. Now using your fingers and / or a largish teaspoon stuff the vegetables with the meat and rice mixture. Do not push the filling in too firmly as the rice needs space to expand as it cooks
6. Then put the tops back onto the vegetables and secure with cocktail sticks
7. Gently put all the vegetables into the tomato stock mixture packing them fairly close as this helps to stop them breaking up during cooking, then bring the stock to a slow boil, put a well fitting lid on and cook on a low to medium heat (bubbling gently) for about an hour.

One of Rowena’s own dishes inspired by reading various recipes online. First served June 2012.