Zucchini Cannelloni

This is a labor intensive one, but a fancy side or appetizer for guests (if you want to impress of course)!

 

INGREDIENTS:
  • 4 medium uncooked zucchini
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 clove(s) garlic clove(s), smashed
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus extra for salting water
  • 1 cup(s) ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup(s) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 2 1/2 oz basil, 1 bunch finely chopped
  • 1/2 medium uncooked onion(s), diced
  • 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 garlic clove(s), finely chopped
  • 3 large fresh tomatoes diced
  • arugula, baby variety, to lay on bottom of tray

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Slice off one side of each zucchini to expose a long, wide, flat area; reserve removed pieces.
  2. Using a mandolin (we used OXO stainless steel mandolin), cut zucchini into 1/8-inch-thick slices.
  3. Dice reserved zucchini. (You only need 1 c diced zucchini for the filling)
  4. Preheat oven to 350° F. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil.
  5. Meanwhile, coat a large saute pan with oil; toss in 2 smashed garlic cloves and crushed red pepper for the filling. Bring pan to medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is golden and very aromatic, 1-2 minutes; remove and discard garlic. Add 1 c diced zucchini and season with salt; cook, stirring often, until zucchini begins to soften, 3-4 minutes. Transfer zucchini to a medium mixing bowl; let cool.
  6. Working in batches, boil zucchini slices until they begin to soften, about 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove slices from pot; lay them out on a baking sheet (or two) to cool.
  7. When diced zucchini mixture is cool, stir in ricotta, Parmesan and half of basil; season to taste.
  8. Pat zucchini slices dry with paper towels; lay them on a work surface. Spoon 1 ½ Tbsp ricotta mixture on the end of each zucchini slice; carefully roll up zucchini and return to baking sheet(s).
  9. To make sauce, coat a large saute pan with oil and toss in onion; season with 1/2 tsp salt and crushed red pepper. Heat to medium; cook, stirring often, until soft and aromatic, 6-8 minutes. Toss in chopped garlic; cook, stirring frequently, 1-2 minutes more. Stir in tomatoes and remaining 1/2 tsp salt; cook for 8- 10 minutes more. Toss in remaining basil; set sauce aside.
  10. Just before you add tomatoes to pan for sauce, put zucchini rolls in oven; bake 10 minutes to warm through.
  11. Serve zucchini rolls over a bed of arugula, topped with tomato sauce; garnish with basil (optional).
  12. Serving size: 2 rolls plus 2 1/2 Tbsp sauce

Side Note: for our Weight Watchers readers these are 3 Points if you use skim ricotta 😉

Source:  Weight Watchers Magazine

Advertisement

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s