Gremolata-Stuffed Cucumber Barrels to Welcome in the New Spring Season!
Do you want to impress your dinner party guests without breaking a sweat? These delicious, light, and flavorful one-bite snacks will satisfy even the most distinguished palates. And you can make them in advance and keep them in the fridge for up to a full day before your event! These stuffed cucumber barrels are flavor-packed and addictive, yet somehow they don’t spoil your appetite before dinner is served.
Ingredients
- 6 small Lebanese Cucumbers ((fresh baby cucumbers, roughly 6” long and 1” diameter), cut into ¾” sections, or barrels. You can get about 7-8 “barrels” per cucumber. )
- ½ shallot, (finely diced.)
- Zest of 1 lemon.
- Juice of 1 lemon.
- ¼ - ½ clove raw garlic, (finely minced or microplaned.)
- 1 cup almonds or pine nuts, (toasted and finely chopped.)
- 1 cup fresh parsley, (finely chopped. )
- ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper, (to taste.)
- Cayenne Pepper, (a pinch, to taste.)
Instructions
- Wash your cucumbers under cold water and dry them.
- Cut the ends off each cucumber, and cut each cucumber into 3/4” “stumps” or “barrels”.
- Take a melon-baller and carefully extract the center of each “barrel” from the top, leaving the bottom intact.
- Essentially, you are scooping out the insides of the cucumber barrel to allow space to house your gremolata stuffing.
- Place your cucumbers on a paper towel and gently salt the cucumbers and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- This will help flavor your cukes and draw out some of the water, which you can dump out onto your paper towel before you add the stuffing.
- To make the gremolata stuffing, finely dice ½ shallot, and place in small bowl with the lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Add a tiny pinch of salt.
- Finely mince your ¼ or ½ garlic clove and add to the shallot and lemon mixture.
- Toast your almonds or pine nuts and finely chop them once they have cooled.
- Add these nuts to your chopped parsley and incorporate your olive oil, the shallot & garlic mixture, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and a small pinch of cayenne powder.
- Combine mixture thoroughly.
- For assembly, carefully spoon the gremolata mixture into the empty cucumber barrels, and top with fresh black pepper or cayenne.
- *These can be made in advance and stored for up to a day prior to serving.
- And your guests will ask you for the recipe before they leave.
Notes
One of the beautiful things about this recipe is that you can substitute a variety of nuts in place of almonds or pine nuts, and you can also have fun and add items that are to your liking. If you wanted to add some anchovies or capers or crispy onions instead of shallots, go for it! If you are looking to spice up the visual aesthetic, consider peeling the cucumbers length-wise with long single strokes, alternating to leave some green lines with the peel remaining between the lighter lines where your peeler has removed the outer skin. Also, if you don’t have a melon baller, you can use a tiny spoon, or even a measuring teaspoon!