These low carb zucchini lasagna rolls are stuffed with cheese, slathered in pesto, and smothered in mozzarella. All the great flavours of summer in one healthy side dish.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Well, I don’t know about Mary, but my garden is absolutely off the hook this year. Things grow big in Oregon…really, really big. I noticed this last year when we planted some sunflowers by our side door that became absolute giants. They were well over 8 feet tall with heads like dinner plates, so big and heavy that they curled over the walkway. It was a little scary, actually. You felt like the flowers were going to eat you as you ventured out. Feed me, Seymour, feed me! They hung so low, I actually knocked my head against them a few times, sending sunflower seeds scattering. This year, we channeled that crazy growth into our raised veggie beds, resulting into a dizzying amount of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. And of course zucchini. Having moved here from New England, where gardens tend to grow rather grudgingly, it’s like we’ve hit the summer vegetable jackpot.
Yay for zucchini. Really, hip hip hooray for zucchini. I’d say that the long green squash easily rivals cauliflower for low carb usefulness. It’s just so versatile and plays nicely with both sweet and savoury flavours. So while I am having trouble coming up with enough ways to use all of the zukes from my garden, I am having damned fun trying. I do send one or two over to my neighbours every day or so. And I’ve grated a bunch and frozen it for the zucchini-less months of the year. We grill some every few days and toss it with olive oil and garlic. And I’ve made countless batches of low carb zucchini waffles and low carb zucchini bread. But I haven’t run out of steam yet!
So here is one more zucchini recipe to add to your coffers, this one a filling low carb side dish. I love grilling long zucchini slices and treating them like lasagna noodles. My Grilled Zucchini Lasagna has long been one of the most popular recipes on my blog. The dry heat of the grill helps eliminate moisture without needing to salt the zucchini, so you don’t end up with a dish swimming in a pool of liquid. This time, with an abundance of fresh summer pesto that my husband made, I decided to play with that same lasagna concept, filling the zucchini slices with a ricotta mixture and rolling them up. Then I slathered on some pesto, sprinkled the whole thing with mozzarella and baked it. It was good. I mean, really really good. The bubbly, cheesy, basil-y, garlic-y zucchini rolls were a perfect summer side dish. And a great way to use up 3 of my zucchini. Now if I could just figure out what to do with the million other zukes coming out of my garden, I’d be in business.
Have you ever tried making zucchini fritters? These Zucchini Fritters from Fifteen Spatulas look perfect. They aren’t low carb but I bet you could use some almond flour! And how about this Skinny Zucchini Casserole from Give Recipe – replace the flour with some coconut flour for a low carb version.
Pesto Zucchini Lasagna Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini about 8 to 10 inches long
- 1 tbsp avocado or olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 ounces chopped spinach
- 1 cup full fat ricotta
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat grill or a grill pan to medium.
- Trim ends of zucchini and slice lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices. You should get about 16 long slices of zucchini.
- Set zucchini on grill and grill until tender and much of the moisture has been removed, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from grill and set aside on layers of paper towel.
- Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9x12 inch glass or ceramic baking dish.
- Add oil to a large skillet set over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add chopped spinach and cook until wilted but still bright green.
- In a large bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt, and pepper. Add spinach mixture and stir until well combined.
- Take a zucchini slice and spread a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta filling over 1/2 of it. Roll up tightly and place into the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining zucchini and filling.
- Spread pesto over zucchini rolls. Sprinkle with mozzarella and bake 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbling.
Notes
Total fat: 16.71g
Calories from fat: 150
Cholesterol: 40mg
Carbohydrate: 7.02g
Total dietary fiber: 1.61g
Protein: 13.32g
BEST LOW CARB ZUCCHINI RECIPES
Rachel says
This a quick and easy recipe that was also delicious! And it looks a little fancy with serving them in rolls! Grilling the zucchini worked perfectly!
Miriah Baxter says
https://www.vastadeal.com/ Have you seen this tool for cutting flat zucchini slices easily for lasagna? I am ordering one on payday!
Lexy says
Do I need to salt my zucchini before grilling or will grilling and putting on paper towel remove enough moisture?
Carolyn says
Do not salt for this recipe. Bad idea, it will make them soggy. If I didn’t say to do it in the recipe, then don’t do it.
Zerrin says
Love the idea of making zucchini lasagna rolls. This recipe has everything I love. The combination of all the cheeses and the rest of the ingredients sounds just yum! Will definitely try it soon this summer.
Erica says
The link to the Chocolate Chip Zucchini bread on a SweetLife doesn’t work. 🙁 I would love to have this recipe.
Amy says
Let me just say that these were AMAZING!!! I made a double batch, and put marinara instead of pesto on one batch. Equally as AMAZING as the pesto. I can’t wait to make them again!!
Bobbie says
These were so yum! Enough leftovers to take to work and get to enjoy again!!
Carol M says
YUM! I can imagine some tasty variations of these roll-ups! Think of this with chopped cooked shrimp or crab in the ricotta mixture. Perhaps a meaty red sauce instead of pesto? Although I too love pesto but no herb garden this year. Thanks for another easy recipe!
Lisa says
Would putting the zucchini under the broiler have the same effect? I don’t have access to a grill or grilling pan(? not sure what that is).
Carolyn says
Yes that works too but watch it closely.
Bruce says
Can you freeze these?
Carolyn says
Not entirely sure since I didn’t try. We did just put a zucchini lasagna in the freezer, though. I have high hopes for it when I rewarm. 🙂
Colleen Cradick. says
Please may I get your zucchini recipe
Carolyn says
Please email me and my assistant will send it to you.
Linda Severtson says
Hello Carolyn:
Greetings from Bend,OR
I am a regular reader of your superb blog.
I just wanted to mention a problem with any links to http://www.a sweet life.com website. I wanted to check on the zucchini lasagna recipe so clicked into their website. I got all kinds of warnings that the site had been compromised with malicious malware and my firewall and virusprotection immediately kicked me out of the site. I just tried it again with the same result. Just thought you might want to know. I was able to look at the lasagna recipe before the warning popped up on the second try.
Carolyn says
Yes, we are aware of the problem. Email me and my assistant will send you the recipe. Thanks!