Vegan Stuffed Vegetables (Mahshie Sowmy)

This is traditionally made during the Easter fast, since it's customary to abstain from eating any animal products. It's a delicious dish - really really delicious - but it's very time consuming! This would be a meal that the ladies would work on together as it's usually too much work for one person. I have fond memories of sitting around this very same table with my sister, mom, tata (shown) and aunts all making large pots of "mahshie sowmy".

Vegetables to stuff

• 2kg of one or a mixture of: small Italian eggplant, small light green zucchini (also known as Mexican squash or calabacita), grape leaves, swisschard, cabbage or even romaine lettuce.

Filling

• 1 cup of Italian Arborio rice
• 3 onions, diced into 5mm squares
  
• 5 cloves of garlic, mashed
  
• 5 tomatoes, finely diced
  
• 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
  
• 1 small bunch of fresh mint, chopped (or 2 tbsp dried)
  
• 2 cups of chick peas (canned is fine but preferably soaked and boiled)
  
• juice of 1 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
  
• salt & pepper to taste

Mix all of the stuffing ingredients together in a large bowl. If you're using any green leaves, you have to remove the hard stem in the core and blanch them in salted boiling water so they can fold easily. If you're using eggplants or zucchini, hollow them out using a corer. For zucchini's you leave about 3mm thick outer shell. For eggplant, the thinner the shell, the better!

Stuff the zucchini and eggplant generously with the mixture, and place them in your cooking pot as you complete them.

If you're using any leaves, spread the leaf in front of you on a flat surface, a large plate works perfectly. Then place a small amount of stuffing in the centre-bottom of the leaf, in a horizontal line. Leave about 5cm on each side and from the bottom. Then fold both of the sides inward, then fold the bottom up and roll the leaf until complete. You'll want the diameter of the leaf to be about the size of your thumb, not too thick. You also don't want it to be too long, (no longer than a regular hot dog), so don't be afraid to cut the leaf if it's too large.

Once complete, add a dash of salt and 1 1/2 cups of water. Cover the pot and bring everything to a boil. Immediately reduce to low heat, and let steam for about 15 minutes, just as you'd normally cook rice. If using a pressure cooker, only add one cup of water and let it cook for only about 5 minutes.

Serves 6.