Roughly cut the bread in big chunks and place them in a bowl. Heat the milk in a microwave or in a small pan and pour it on top of the bread. Let everything soak for 20 to 25 min.

Slowly cook the chopped onion and garlic on low heat for 10 min or until they are soft and translucent with 1 tbsp olive oil. Then set aside.

Cut off the tops of the tomatoes and zucchinis. Using a dessert spoon scoop out most of the flesh of the vegetables and set the flesh aside. Salt the hollowed tomatoes and zucchinis and place them on a cooling rack, cut side down.

Chop the flesh of the tomatoes and zucchinis. Put it in a small saucepan with the bay leaf. Season with salt & black pepper and simmer on low heat for 25 min or until it the liquid has reduced by half. If your veggies weren’t very juicy to start with, you can add a splash of water. Mix from time to time to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Submerge the hollowed zucchinis in the water and let them cook for 5 min. Take them out of the pan with a slotted spoon and put them back on the cooling rack. Pre-cooking the zucchinis will ensure that their skin will be tender enough to eat.

Now cook the rice in the boiling salted water, 1 min less than the recommended cooking time written on the package. Drain and pour cold water on it to stop the cooking process.

It’s time to make the stuffing. Pour off any excess milk that the bread didn’t absorb and mash the bread mixture with a fork. Break the egg in a mixing bowl and add the parsley, ground meats, mashed bread mixture, rice, the onions and garlic and season. Mix thoroughly by hand until everything is combined.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Grease a baking dish that’s big enough to easily fit all the stuffed vegetables. Put the stewed flesh of the vegetables at the bottom of the baking dish.

Put some dry rice inside the tomatoes and zucchinis. It will absorb any excess liquid while in the oven. Stuff the tomatoes and zucchinis generously with your delicious stuffing. Top each stuffed vegetable with 1 tsp of breadcrumbs and a knob of butter.

Place the stuffed tomatoes and zucchinis (and their tops if you want to use/eat them) in the baking dish.

Cook the stuffed vegetables for 45 min in the preheated oven. The vegetables will release some juice while cooking but check from time to time that the bottom of your baking dish isn’t too dry, if so you can add a splash of water.

Put the baking dish on a cooling rack and let the stuffed vegetables cool for 10 min before serving.