Fresh and colorful vegetables filled with cereals such as spelled, rice and cous cous are an ideal dish for a family or friends lunch. Among the seasonal proposals you can choose peppers, aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes or onions. For the fillings you have a very wide choice, from couscous to bulgur, from barley to spelled, according to your preferences. Here are five proposals to try.

Tomatoes stuffed with fregola and clams

Take medium-sized coppery tomatoes, cut them in half and empty out the seeds. Dust them with salt and leave them upside down upside down for 30 minutes to lose the vegetation water. Meanwhile, put the clams to drain in a basin with cold water and salt (three handfuls of which are abundant for a liter of water) for about half an hour. Drain the clams, rinse them and put them in a pan where you have browned a clove of garlic in a little oil. Cook the clams, covered, until they are open. At this point, remove the shellfish and filter their liquid. In another pan, sauté in a drizzle of garlic oil and parsley. Add the tomato puree, the fregola and the filtered liquid of the clams (like a broth) and cook. When the fregola is cooked, add the shelled clams and stuff the tomatoes with this filling, place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 180 ° for 20 minutes. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Zucchini with spelled, thyme and lemon

Spread the courgettes, cut them in half and put them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and leave to cool. Once cold, remove the pulp with a spoon. Separately, chop the shallots and brown them in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Add the pulp of the courgettes to the shallots, cook for five minutes and then whisk everything. Add 4 tablespoons of previously soaked spelled to this purée for 10-12 hours and cook for about ten minutes, adding the cooking water of the courgettes, if necessary. Once the spelled is cooked, add some thyme and grated lemon peel. Stuff the courgettes with the spelled with thyme, place them on an oiled baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees for about twenty minutes. Serve immediately.

Peppers stuffed with black rice with broad beans and salted ricotta

To prepare this dish, first cook the venere rice in plenty of salted water. When it is cooked, drain it and place it in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a slice of garlic to brown. Blanch the broad beans for a few minutes in a saucepan with boiling water, then peel them and set them aside. Add to the rice a mixture of aromatic herbs such as thyme and marjoram, the beans, stir and set aside. Take the peppers, wash them and cut them in half, removing the seeds and the white filaments. Stuff each layer of pepper with a tablespoon of rice, sprinkle with grated salted ricotta, then place them on a baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve streamers.

Onions, cous cous and olives

Choose golden or red onions for this really tasty dish. First prepare the couscous: pour it into a bowl, add two tablespoons of oil and stir. Pour hot water over it, cover the couscous, cover and let it rest for half an hour. Take the onions, clean them and cut them in half. Empty them, diced the inside and add it to the couscous, together with cherry tomatoes cut in half, pitted green olives cut into rounds, chopped basil and grated lime peel. Fill the couscous onions with a spoon, place them on a lined plate and bake at 175 degrees for twenty minutes. Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a few basil leaves to decorate.

Eggplant with bulgur, mint and pine nuts

It is a typically Sicilian combination, fresh and very tasty. Wash and cut the aubergines in half lengthwise, place them on a baking sheet with the top cut in the oven at 180 ° for 20 minutes. After this time remove them and with a spoon remove the eggplant pulp and place it in a bowl. Add the chopped mint, cooked bulgur, pine nuts to the pulp, mix, add salt and season with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Fill the aubergines with this filling and serve hot.