I have been having a culinary renaissance of late with the food of my childhood which has been amusing my family to no end. As a child I was quite a fussy eater and used to smoother my food with tomato ketchup (in an attempt to make it more palatable) which used to send my mother into a flap! My children now also practice this 'art form' of covering most of my cooking with large amounts of tomato ketchup - funny how history repeats itself!



On my last trip to Malta I managed to find a couple of good Maltese cookbooks. All of mums old cookbooks are written in Maltese and are of no use to me as I cant even speak the language let alone read it. So over the last little while I have been reading, cooking and experimenting with the food of my childhood.

Despite my parents migrating to Australia in the 1960's they continued to cook and eat as they did back home in Malta. This has been the typical trend of most ethnic groups in Australia, thus resulting in the rich and diverse food scene we have here today. Yet back then certain produce and food items were difficult to find as Australia was only then on the brink of its massive immigration wave. Consequently, the multiculturalism that my children now take for granted was yet to be realised.




Qarabagħli mimli bil-laħam - Marrows stuffed with meat

Recipe source - Adapted from The Food & Cookery of Malta (2001)

To make this dish a bit more substantial my mum would first layer the baking dish with a bed of sliced potatoes and onions which she would then season with salt and pepper. I normally just bake the marrows in the baking dish on their own. If you are unable to find marrows the trusty old zucchini will suffice.


Ingredients

800 grms large qarabagħli/ marrows

1 large onion finely chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

2 fresh bay leaves

3 large vine ripened tomatoes de-seeded and chopped

2 tbls tomato paste

600 grams organic minced beef

150 grams of rindless bacon

2 organic eggs beaten

4 tbls of grated Grana padano

Olive oil

Semolina

Sea salt & freshly ground pepper


Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4

2. Cut the marrows lengthwise in half and scoop out the insides with a teaspoon. Reserve about a third of the pulp and then finely chop it.

3. Fry the onion, garlic and bay in some olive oil until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for a further few minutes.

4. Place the rindless bacon in the Magi mix or food processor and blend until finely minced.

5. Add the beef and bacon to the onion mix and cook until done.

6. Stir in the finely chopped marrow pulp and then allow to cool.

7. Once cool add the eggs and cheese and season the mixture to taste.

8. Fill the marrow halves with the meat mixture and then lightly sprinkle with semolina. Place in a lightly oiled baking dish and then drizzle a little more olive oil over the filled marrows

9. Bake for about 45 minutes until marrow has softened and meat mixture is golden and crisp.