Pabucaki (papoutsaki)

This is a stuffed courgette dish popular in Greece and Türkiye. It can also be made with other vegetables such as aubergine.

Ingredients

Courgette (zucchini), 3 good size (about 400 grams total)
Olive oil, 2 tablespoons
Cheese, about 400 grams. I recommend half feta and half a semi-hard, partly melty cheese, such as sharp cheddar, aged manchego or kasseri.
Optional: spices, to taste. Try black pepper to taste (start with one teaspoon) and sumac (a teaspoon or two). Yoy probably won’t need salt, but if you are using low salt cheeses, then adjust to taste.
Herbs, to taste. I suggest a loosely packed cup of a combination of fresh parsley and dill, coarsely chopped, but use any fresh or dried herbs you like in any quantity you like.
Eggs. These serve to hold the filling together. Just one should do, but I usually use one per courgette, a total of 3 in this recipe.

Oven temperature: 200 degrees (400 F)

Cut the courgettes in half legthwise. You can leave the stems attached for presentation. Optionally, cut a thin slice off the outside edges to allow them to stay level in the baking sheet.
With a spoon, scoop away the seeds and a bit of the flesh to make room for the filling. Keep the scooped material for other uses (for example, frittata, a bulgur or couscous dish, etc).
Crumble the feta and grate whatever other cheese you’re using. Add the eggs, any spices, and any dried herbs you’re using and mash with a fork until you get a coarse mixture. Add the fresh herbs and mix together.
Brush all cut surfaces of the courgettes generously with olive oil. Instead of brushing with oil, you can also saute them briefly, for a minute or two, on each cut surface to get more tender pabucaki. If you are using aubergines, definitely saute them until they are pretty much cooked through (or blind bake them until soft, then proceed to the next step).
Arrange the pabucaki cut side up on a baking dish, and fill them with the cheese filling.
Bake until the filling is browned to your liking. I suggest about half an hour.
I like them warm, but some enjoy them at room temperature.