Qarabagħli Mimli (Maltese Stuffed Summer Squash)

Instructions

Sweat the chopped onion in a mix of oil and butter until soft. Mix it with the minced pork, bacon, salt-cured cheese, soaked bread, parsley, eggs, salt and pepper to make the first filling, and set it aside.

For the second filling, combine the ricotta, Pecorino, parsley or marjoram, eggs, salt and pepper, and set it aside. For the third, mix the garlic, rice, meat sauce, water, mixed spice, egg, salt and pepper, and set that aside too. You will use one of the three fillings, not all at once.

Cut a lid off each squash and keep it whole, or halve the squash lengthwise, depending on size. Scoop out the flesh, leaving a shell about 1 cm thick. The scooped flesh can be diced and stirred into the filling if you like.

Spoon your chosen filling into the shells without filling them to the top, since the eggs and any rice will expand as they cook. Mix breadcrumbs or semolina with grated cheese, then dip the filled tops in it or sprinkle it over to help seal the filling in.

To bake, layer sliced potatoes and onions in a baking dish and season with salt, pepper and caraway seed. Moisten with stock, set the squash on top, cover with foil and bake at 180˚C for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes more until the tops are crisp. This works for all three fillings.

To pot roast, pack the squash tightly in a pot and add water to just over halfway up their sides. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 35 minutes, until the squash is tender and the meat or rice filling is cooked through. This also suits all three fillings, and you can set the squash on chopped onion with a little olive oil and tomato paste.

To simmer, which does not suit the ricotta filling, lower well-sealed squash into a simmering meat broth made with root vegetables and bones. Keep it on low heat for about 40 minutes. Serve the strained broth first, then the vegetables and stuffed squash as a second course.

Serve the squash hot.