Courgette boats

Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 very large courgette (or 2 smaller ones)
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers (or romano peppers)
  
• 1 medium aubergine
• 2 toes garlic
• 1 onion
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  
• 150 g mozzarella cheese
• 3 T grated parmesan cheese
• 3 t coconut flour
• vegetable oil
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried thyme
• pinch of dried lavender
  
• salt
• black pepper
• liquid stevia (optional)
  

Pre-heat the oven to 180° C (350° F). Cut the courgette in half lengthwise. If it is very large, cut it in half to make shorter pieces. If the pieces do not lie flat with the skin side down, slice away a bit from the skin side so that it is stable when resting skin side down. Scoop out the inside of the courgette into a bowl. Leave enough flesh to hold the shape.

This image shows the courgette after it has been scooped out, and gives an indication of the size of the courgette.

Mince the onion and garlic and put them in a deep pan with some vegetable oil. Cook them gently until the onions are soft.

While the onions are cooking, chop the aubergine and peppers into bite-sized pieces. Cut the reserved interior of the courgette as well. Add the chopped vegetables and the tomatoes to the onions and garlic. Allow it to simmer until the aubergine and courgette pieces are still firm but cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the herbs. Pour the vegetable mixture into a small mesh strainer and let it sit until the liquid has drained. (The liquid can be reserved to add to a soup or another dish.)

Add the grated parmesan to the vegetable mixture. Season it to taste with salt, black pepper, and a few drops of stevia. Stir in 1 t of coconut flour.

Use 2 t of coconut flour to flour the inside of the courgette boats, then spoon the filling in. Set the boats in a lightly greased baking pan. Slice the mozzarella and set it on top of the stuffed boats.

Put the boats in the oven until they are cooked but still firm enough to retain their shape, about 30 minutes. Briefly grill the boats if the mozzarella has not developed a brown crust.

Source

This dish wasn't inspired by any recipe in particular.

Notes

If you don't have basil, thyme, and lavender, you can use herbes de Provence in place of all three.

Coconut flour is exceptionally good at absorbing liquid; my baking pan didn't have any juice on it. If I wasn't practicing low-carb eating, I would probably have used cornstarch.

I don't care for the taste of tomatoes without some sweetener added, which is why I incorporate the stevia (I used 5 drops). You can easily leave it out.