Stuffed and gratinated summer vegetables

Now in summer, the selection of seasonal fruits, vegetables and other regional delicacies is huge! So we like to get our food from different markets or farm shops. Innsbruck has a lot to offer here, among other things the market hall is a great place to go for crunchy Tyrolean vegetables, tasty mountain cheese, fresh herbs, homemade bacon and much more! The market hall also houses the largest Tyrolean farmers' market, which is open every morning. Small tip: Breakfast is also great here!

From all the goodies from the market we prepared delicious stuffed vegetables. Zucchini, melanzani and tomatoes with a fine filling of rice, mushrooms and feta. A great alternative to the classic stuffed peppers with minced meat. Try it out - this is what summer tastes like!

WHAT YOU NEED FOR 4 PEOPLE:

• 3 pieces of oxheart tomatoes (the fleshy kind is especially good)
• 3 small round courgettes
• 1 small melanzani
• 150 g brown rice
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• half a bunch each of fresh thyme and basil
• 150 g mushrooms (e.g. brown mushrooms and herb mushrooms)
• 8-10 pieces of dried tomatoes (preserved in oil)
• 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
• 150 g feta
• Salt/pepper
• Olive oil for browning
• Tyrolean mountain cheese, finely grated
• optional: spicy bacon, finely diced

FOR THE SAUCE YOU NEED

• 200 ml vegetable stock
• 50 ml white wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Salt/pepper

AND THAT'S HOW IT WORKS:

Wash and clean the tomatoes, zucchini and melanzani. Cut the tops off the tomatoes and zucchini, scoop out the flesh with a spoon and set aside. Cut the melanzani in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon as well. If you are using regular oblong zucchini, do as you did with the melanzani.

Finely chop the hollowed out pulp of the zucchini and melanzani. Put the pulp of the tomatoes in an extra bowl, we will need that later for the filling.

Bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and cook the hollowed out vegetables (except for the tomatoes) for a few minutes. Cook the brown rice according to the instructions on the packet.

Finely chop the onion and garlic cloves and sauté in a little olive oil until translucent. Clean the mushrooms, chop them and fry them together with the chopped flesh of the zucchini and melanzani for about 5 minutes. Cut the dried tomatoes into small pieces and add them to the pan together with the spinach and the flesh of the tomatoes. Add the feta, chop the herbs finely and add two thirds of them to the vegetables. Fold in the rice and season everything again with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees top and bottom heat. Place the hollowed out vegetables in a large casserole dish and fill with the prepared vegetable-rice mixture. In an extra bowl, whisk together the vegetable stock, white wine and tomato paste, season with a little salt and pepper and add to the dish with the remaining herbs. If there is any rice filling left over, add it to the dish as well. Sprinkle the stuffed vegetables heavily with grated mountain cheese and place the cut vegetable tops on top. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil over the top and bake everything in the oven for about 35 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned. The sight alone is a delight, not to mention the smell from the oven!