Zucchini Roll

Are you looking for more ways to eat up all those garden fresh zucchini? We’ve been enjoying a slice of zucchini bread with a nice warm cup of coffee in the mornings and zucchini pizzas almost every night for dinner. I wanted to try some new dishes through, so my husband found this Zucchini Roll recipe on YouTube from Frische Rezepte. It’s a cute and simple video I’ve converted into a written recipe.

I guessed on a few of the measurements and I accidentally used the large grater rather then the small grater, but it turned out ok. Also, I probably used too much shredded zucchini mixed in with the eggs, the zucchini are ginormous from my garden, so next time I make it I can probably just use one zucchini for both the shredded part and the sliced rounds.

Here are some step-by-step pictures of the zucchini roll process with the written directions following the pictures. Also, check out a few tips and alterations I noted after the recipe including how to creatively eat up any leftovers and get the kids to eat it too!

Preheat the oven to 350* F.

For the Base Layer

• 1 medium zucchini, finely grated
• 6 eggs, dash of salt and pepper, well beaten with a whisk
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into thin rounds using a knife or mandolin, about 1/16-inch thick

For the filling

• 8 oz Ricotta
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
• Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Make the base layer: Combine finely grated zucchini with the well beaten eggs. Pour egg mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Layer the thin zucchini rings, slightly overlapping, over the entire surface of the egg mixture. Sprinkle with a little salt. Bake in the oven at 350* F for 20 minutes. Remove the zucchini base layer from the oven and allow it to cool.
2. Make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients.
3. Slide the cooled base layer off the baking sheet onto a fresh sheet of parchment paper. Place both hands on one end of the sheet, with the baked egg and zucchini sheet sandwiched between your hands, gently flip over so the zucchini rounds are now on the bottom and the egg layer is facing up.
4. Peel the parchment paper off the egg side then spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the top.
5. Grab the parchment paper and begin to gently roll lengthwise, once started let the parchment paper separate and continue rolling tightly with the zucchini rounds on the outside layer. Wrap the zucchini roll with parchment paper, tucking in the ends to keep the roll moist. Refrigerate for one hour then remove the parchment paper wrap, slice into thin rounds and enjoy!

Alternatives:

Try it warm! – this zucchini roll was meant to be eaten cold, however, we discovered we actually preferred this roll warm! Simply warm it up and enjoy!

Lots of Leftovers – It made kind of a lot and the kids were not super interested so we got creative. First we made them into little pizzas using the roll as the zucchini “crust” and followed my zucchini pizza recipe for the rest, it was delish! But then we still had some left over so we combined it into a lasagna type dish by combining it with my Ratatouille-ish dish as explained below.

Kid Tips: First of all, I always need to remember the kids don’t like to SEE their veggies. I forgot that I usually do two key things: #1 – I usually peel all the skin off the zucchini, that green skin is a tell tale sign of a veggie! #2 – I try to hide the veggies so having them wrapped on the outside of the roll was a show stopper for the kids! I finally got them to eat this by mixing it with my Ratatouille-ish and topping it with shredded cheese 🙂 Shredded cheese is always a great way to hide those veggies 😉 By combining the two recipes we basically ended up with a lasagna type dish and it was spectacular!!

Try some of our other favorite zucchini recipes…