Stuffed zucchini, Ligurian style

Monday I started working as a journalist at http://www.tio.ch and I absoultely love the job. I didn't realize how much I missed working until I started working and writing again. I missed it a lot. I missed it so much that it dawned on me that until Monday I wasn't feeling like my real self. I'm not exaggerating, I swear.

The only downfall of working again is that I have less time to cook, but I guess it's more of a question of getting organized. I mean, I used to cook after work all the time back when I worked at the Naples Daily News, so I don't see why I can't do it here.

First I should probably go grocery shopping since my fridge and pantry look like they have been raided by a hoard of hungry mineworkers. Then I should skip my daily aperitivo at the Bar Lido, where I inevitably end up pigging out so much I'm then too stuffed to even think about dinner. The problem is, I kinda feel the end of summer upon me. It's crazy, I know, because after all there's still three whole weeks in August and the weather in September is definitely summer-like around here. Still, I've experienced this weird anxiety lately, so I'm spending time outdoors whenever I can. 

So forgive me if I haven't been around posting on my blog and visiting yours.

Anhow, although I have cooked sporadically, I have indeed cooked something. I made these stuffed zucchini a few days ago, after looking up th recipe online. My grandma used to make these, but of course she never wrote down the instructions, so I had to ask for help to my dear friend Google. That's how I found out that the recipe hails from Liguria, a skinny and small region overlooking the Tirreno sea. I have no idea how my grandma had come across it, since she wasn't from there, but who cares? The zucchini tasted exactly like hers, so I was satisfied. 

STUFFED ZUCCHINI, LIGURIAN STYLE

1 anchovy fillet

3 tabelspoons of capers

2 onions, minced

Breadcrumbs

A bunch fresh basil

Fresh oregano

Extra virgin olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper

1 large can of tuna

2 eggs

4 zucchini

Boil zucchini in boiling hot, salted water for about 8 minutes. Let them cool off, then slice in half and carve pulp out with a teaspoon. Reserve pulp.

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet, add the anchovy and let it melt. Add onion and zucchini pulp and sautee for a few minutes. In the mean time place tuna, herbs and capers in a food processor and pulse a few times. Place zucchini mixture and tuna mixture in a large bowl, add eggs, cheese, a couple of tablespoons of breadcrumb and mix well.

Spoon mixture into hollowed zucchini halves. Place them in an oven safe dish, previously oiled with EVOO. Cook at 350F for about 30 minutes.