I had a vegetarian version of these while in the Carpathians in Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine. If you want to make them veggie, swap out the ground beef and gouda with 300g of a firm, salty sheep’s milk cheese like a young pecorino or even pecorino blended with equal amounts of feta and less salt. Drain tomatoes very well first if you make them vegetarian. You ideally want a paste-like structure to the filling. Get yourself some good, fresh rye bread to serve these with – you also can’t go wrong with garnishing them with a bit of sour cream.

You will need:

3 small zucchini (about 20 cm long)
2 lbs lean ground beef
3 shallots
six cloves of garlic
small bunch of scallions
1 medium-hot pepper, de-seeded and de-veined (Hungarian hot pepper or mirasol chilis are lovely)
three medium sized tomatoes
handful each of fresh basil and oregano
juice of whole lemon
250g young gouda or other good melting cheese like provolone
salt
pepper

You’ll also need:

A sharp knife
A vegetable peeler
A cutting board
A large oven-proof, handled pan (don’t use non-stick as it gets finished off under the broiler – cast iron is best)

Method:

Slice zucchini into long, lengthwise strips with veg peeler. They should be about 1-2 inches in diameter, depending on the size of your zucchini.

Finely chop the tomato, pepper, shallots, garlic and herbs. Finely chop scallions and set them aside for later. Put the veg, herbs and ground beef into a large bowl. Season it with good sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and zest your lemon into the bowl before cutting it in half and juicing the whole lemon into the mixture (keep the seeds out!). Mix everything really well with your hands, ensuring there are no large chunks of beef or veg – everything should be well incorporated.

Lay strips flat and press beef and veg mixture onto the zucchini strip, creating a half centimeter layer on top, before rolling up the strip into a snug coil.
Place them upright in a pan, going clockwise around the pan and fitting them close with each other until the pan is filled.
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil overtop.

Cook on med-high heat for ten minutes before reducing to medium for another ten. Do not cover; let the moisture evaporate.

Once the liquid has gone from the bottom of the pan, sprinkle over cheese and scallions.

Set your oven broiler to high and place pan underneath the broiler to crisp up cheese. This should only take a minute or two, so keep a close eye on it.

Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving with sour cream and fresh bread.