Zucchini stuffed with minced meat

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 8 zucchini, approx. 20 cm long
• 500 g minced beef
• 4 onions
• 150 g Parmesan, freshly grated
• 1 bay leaf
• 20 sprigs of thyme
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 2 small cans of tomatoes, peeled
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt
• Cayenne pepper
• ½ bunch parsley, flat
• olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

baked in the oven on spicy tomato sauce

Wash the zucchini, trim the ends, cut a narrow strip across the length (set aside), and partially hollow it out with a small knife, leaving a border of about 1/2 cm. Finally, scrape out the seeds with a spoon and discard. Sauté two finely chopped onions in olive oil until translucent, add the two finely chopped garlic cloves and the chopped parsley, remove the pan from the heat, and let cool slowly. Pick the leaves from 10 thyme sprigs, chop them, and place them in a bowl. Add the grated Parmesan, the minced meat, and the sautéed onion mixture. The Parmesan is salty enough; I didn’t need to add any more salt. (If you have a food processor, you can skip the hassle of picking the thyme; I put the whole sprigs in the food processor with the Parmesan cubes and chopped them thoroughly.) Knead the meat mixture thoroughly and stuff the zucchini with it. Sauté two coarsely chopped onions with a crumbled bay leaf in olive oil. Dice the remaining zucchini strips and add them. Add the tomatoes and their juices. Finely chop the remaining thyme and rosemary and add them. Let it simmer briefly, then season the sauce with salt and chili. Pour the sauce into a sufficiently large ovenproof dish and place the zucchini on top. Bake in a preheated oven to 180°C for 45 minutes until crispy. Serve with baguette or rice.