This dish is one of the most famous dishes in the Middle East; it is on every table at every home at any given time!

In Arabic, This dish called   K-o-s-a  M-a-h-s-h-I, and in Hebrew,  K-e-sh-oo-ee-m.

Mahshi means stuffed, Kosa and Keshooeem means zucchini!

I love making this dish and my family loves to eat it…

It is one of the easiest dishes to make and for sure, one of the most delicious meals served at any dinner table!

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To serve this dish for weeknight’s dinner, I would recommend cleaning and storing the zucchini in a colander in the refrigerator overnight; making sure it is completely dry…

For vegetarian version of this dish, substitute the meat with chopped fresh flat leaves parsley and chopped tomatoes, and for the butter substitute it with extra virgin olive oil and continue with the rest of the instructions…

In addition, I have made this dish with small cut bite size turkey for the none red meat eaters, and it is equally delicious!

I do not recommend ground beef or ground turkey, as it will disappear and become mush during cooking for some reason, for added flavor I would recommend using the chili cut size method for the beef or turkey.

I also highly recommend using short-medium grain rice for any stuffed vegetable dishes, as I tried the long grain rice, i did not find it as flavorful as the short-medium grain, and long grain rice takes a lot longer to cook than any vegetable, so the vegetables will be overly cooked by the time the rice is done.

.7.25 Lbs. white zucchini about 26 pieces

.2 lb. small cut stew / chili size beef

.1/2 sticks unsalted butter melted

.1 tbsp salt divided

.1/4 tbsp black pepper

.2 cans tomato sauce 12 oz each

.2.5 cups short / medium grain rice

In a large bowl, rinse the rice until the water runs clear, add water to cover the rice and soak for 20 minutes.

Wash the zucchini and dry with clean tea towel.

With paring knife, remove the top of the zucchini and remove only the small white part on the bottom, do that for all of them.

Gently, with zucchini corer removes the inside of each zucchini, finish all, and do not worry about breaking one or two of them it will happen, do not stress about it, they are useable.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

Wash the zucchini with cold water, set in a colander to drain.

Drain the rice, making sure all the water drained, and the rice is somewhat dry.

To the rice, add meat, black pepper, melted butter, and 1/2 tbsp. salt.

With clean hands, combine the mixture making sure the meat and the rice completely mixed so each zucchini would have enough meat in it.

Stuff each zucchini with the rice and meat mixture half way, making sure to leave about two inches space from the top for the rice to expand.

Arrange in a large pot and complete the rest.

In a large bowl combine the tomato paste and water, add two cans of tomato sauce mix well to dissolve the tomato paste, add the reminder of the salt, add the mix to the zucchini.

On high heat, cover and bring to boil, it will take about 5-10 minutes, reduce the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked…With a fork, break one of the zucchini to test the rice making sure its fully cooked, if not cover and simmer on low heat for additional 5 minutes.

Uncover and let the sauce reduce a little, about 5 minutes.

Serve hot with warm pita bread.

Enjoy!