🥒 Sheikh mahshi in tomato sauce
Sheikh mahshi is small zucchini hollowed out and stuffed with minced lamb, onion and pine nuts, then simmered in a light tomato sauce. The zucchini turns soft and absorbs the sauce, while the filling stays meaty and rich. It is served hot, usually with rice on the side.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg small zucchini, cored
- 400 g minced lamb
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 40 g pine nuts
- 1 tsp seven-spice mix, salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp tomato paste in 600 ml water
Method
- Toast the pine nuts in a little oil, then fry the onion and lamb with the spices until browned. Stir the pine nuts in.
- Fill the zucchini with the meat mixture.
- Fry the stuffed zucchini briefly in the remaining oil until lightly coloured, or skip this to save oil.
- Lay them in a pot, pour over the tomato paste mixed with water and salt and simmer covered for 30–35 minutes until tender.
How to make it lighter
- Skip frying the zucchini and simmer them directly in the sauce.
- Use lean minced lamb and halve the pine nuts.
- Serve with a salad instead of a large portion of rice.
History
Sheikh mahshi is considered the most prestigious of Levantine stuffed vegetables because the filling is meat rather than rice. The tomato-sauce version is common in everyday home cooking in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Sheikh mahshi in tomato sauce and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
Download on the App StoreSimilar dishes
Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →