Lebanese Stuffed Kousa Recipe

Green squash stuffed with rice with tomato broth in a blue and white bowl

Lebanese Stuffed Kousa Recipe

Keyword: coosa, cousa, koosa, kousa, stuffed kousa, stuffed squash

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 2

Servings: servings

Calories: 168kcal

Author: Maureen Abood

The meat and rice stuffing mixture for this recipe is a basic Lebanese stuffing that is also used for cabbage rolls and Lebanese stuffed grape leaves. I like to use ground beef for this dish, but you can also use ground lamb. If you have the patience to let the kousa (koosa) rest, after it's been cooked, for a day in the refrigerator before eating it, you’ll find the flavors develop wonderfully. Serve the kousa topped with labneh (thickened yogurt) and thin pita bread or Lebanese flatbread.

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Ingredients

12-18 kousa, small zucchini, and/or yellow squash, washed, trimmed and cored
1/2 pound ground beef chuck or lamb
1/2 cup medium-grain rice, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Few grinds black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 28 oz. can tomato puree, sauce, or juice
6-8 cloves garlic, trimmed, peeled and halved

Instructions

Use your hands to combine the meat, rice, salt, pepper and cinnamon.
Loosely fill each squash with the stuffing. Loosely is the key word here, because the rice does not liketo be crowded. It needs room to expand, so fill only about ¾ of the kousa with stuffing, and don’t pack it in. You may have leftover stuffing that you can form into meatballs to be cooked with the kousa.
In a bowl, season the tomato puree or sauce with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper. Place the kousa (stuffed end up but tilted so that you don’t need as much liquid to cover them) in a tall pot with the garlic cloves interspersed and the meatballs on top.
Pour the tomato puree over all. Pour water over that until the kousa and meatballs are just covered (some can stick out a bit above the liquid). Cover the pot and bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is tender and the meat is cooked through, about an hour. It's fine to continue to cook at a low temperature for up to 2 hours.
Remove the kousa to a serving bowl and taste the sauce. Adjust seasonings, adding salt and pepper as needed. Serve the kousa in individual bowls or on plates with the sauce spooned over it. You can also make a cut down one side of the kousa with the side of a spoon and ladle the sauce over that, to whet the whistle of the stuffing.

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