Baked braised cucumbers

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 10 tomatoes, dried
• 1 stale roll
• 200 ml milk
• 3 m.-large cucumber(s) , (stewed cucumbers) or 2 large zucchini
• 3 onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 6 sprigs rosemary
• 500 g minced meat (beef)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can/n tomatoes, peeled or chopped
• 200 g cream
• 1 bay leaf
• 250 g feta cheese
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 25 minutes

or optionally zucchini

For the filling, pour boiling water over the sun-dried tomatoes in a small bowl and let them steep. Soak the bread rolls in milk. Peel the cucumbers, halve them lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon (do the same for the zucchini, but skip the peeling). Peel 2 onions and 2 garlic cloves and finely dice both. Drain the soaked tomatoes, let them drain well, and cut into fine strips. Finely chop the thyme leaves and the needles from 2 rosemary stalks. Mix everything with the minced meat in a bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread the minced meat mixture over the cucumber halves and place them in a large baking dish. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-assisted oven). For the sauce, peel 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves. Finely slice the onions and garlic. Sauté the onions and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until translucent, then add the tomatoes and cream. Simmer until slightly creamy. Add the remaining rosemary and bay leaf. Season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. Pour the sauce over the cucumbers in the casserole dish. Cook for 20 minutes on the middle rack, then crumble the feta over the cucumbers and bake for another 25 minutes (on the top rack if necessary).