Qara baghli mimli bil laham - Maltese Recipe - stuffed marrow with meat - with a difference!!

Firstly, I have to apologise - there are no photo's for this post!

I know - sorry, but the recipe turned out so good and smelt so heavenly when it came out of the oven that there wasn't time to get the camera.

Secondly - this is a little Anglo twist on a Maltese dish.

Husband is English and he likes Shepherds / Cottage Pie (well so do I)

I am Maltese and I love stuffed marrow

So I came up with the idea of combining both and ended up with......

Racy Stuffed Marrow with Potato & Horseradish topping (Thank you Ralph for naming my new dish)

OK - so here is what you do, and there are choices

A) make up your own stuffed marrow as you normally would - prepare some mash as you normally would - spread it on top with some horseradish sauce spread on the mash and bake for 45 mins at around 200

OR

& this recipe will be more than enough (with some left for next time) to fill 2 medium marrows.

B) Take 2 small onions, peel and slice. Take 2 cloves of garlic, crush and chop. Put around 1 tbs of olive oil in a frying pan, heat and fry onions and garlic. Then take 500g beef mince (room temperature) and add to the onions and garlic to brown. Next is 2 tbs of tomato puree and 2 tbs of Heinz organic tomato ketchup, add to the fry pan and mix together. Then add a generous amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Finally pick some fresh basil, roughly chop and add to the pan. Allow to cool.

In the meantime you should have your potatoes boiling or steaming (however you do yours) and ready for mashing - again - do them how you like them - gloopy, smooth or lumpy - it's up to you.

Next get your marrows and half lengthways - scoop out the middle and discard or better still add to your compost!

When the meat mixture is cool enough, spoon into the middle of the marrows. Then put some mash on top and smooth like you would on a shepherds/cottage pie so the top is totally covered. Next take some horseradish sauce - I use Salisbury's as it's Gluten Free - and spread on the potato. Finally freshly grind some black pepper, put the marrows on a baking tray and place into a heated oven (200degrees) for around 45 minutes.

When the timer goes, just get your plates, forks and knives ready and enjoy your

Racy Stuffed Marrow with Potato & Horseradish topping.

p.s. needless to say, I used home grown marrows & potatoes for the making of this recipe!!