Do you have those days when you want a nice salad with a green goddess dressing or a simple light dish, but then you end up making chicken lasagna zucchini rolls which are the perfect comfort food, don’t get me wrong, but not entirely a salad. I managed to make them with homemade ricotta too, for which I am still working on the best recipe and uses.
How to make this dinner recipe?
Let’s all pretend that this is a lighter take on lasagna and a smaller version at that. I am in love with my small cast iron skillet because it is perfect to cook for 2 people. You will need a really sharp knife or a mandolin slicer to get those thin strips of zucchini to use instead of traditional lasagna sheets.
The trick to getting them soft and limber is sprinkling them with salt and letting them sit, then sprinkling from the other side so the salt draws out any moisture. After that you can lightly or completely pat them dry, this step really depends on the recipe. For this zucchini lasagna rolls recipe, you don’t need them completely dry so a light pat with a paper towel will be enough.
Zucchini roll-ups with ricotta and roasted tomato sauce
We will make a simple roasted tomato sauce with ground chicken, shallots, and peppers for the sauce part. While I am all for slowly braised meat sauces, this is a relatively quick recipe that results in a cheesy, decadent meal, perfect for a date night when paired with a few glasses of red wine. Quickly browned meat and veggies on the pan will be the base for this dish.
You can add many different spices to the sauce, but I usually keep to the holy trinity: salt, pepper, and paprika. Tomatoes love some sugar, so I always add some sugar when making anything with tinned or fresh tomatoes. For an Italian-style recipe, paprika, oregano are really good. You can also add dried basil, fennel, and much more. Depends on what you have on hand. I like to keep it simple. To the zucchini rolls themselves, I added homemade ricotta, but store-bought works well too. But, what is ricotta exactly? It is a delicious fresh cheese with many uses.
How to make the rolls?
Once the zucchini has let most of the moisture out, pat it somewhat dry with a paper towel and you are – ready to roll! I filled them with just the ricotta which I made quite salty, but it will depend on what kind of ricotta you have. Check before, if you feel that it tastes quite bland, add a sprinkle of salt to it. But don’t worry, the zucchini will be salty, but not too salty, so it will all even out in the end into a wonderful meal. These zucchini ricotta roll-ups will melt in your mouth, and I really mean, melt!
After you have rolled the, well, rolls, you will arrange them. You will need a cast-iron pan or an oven-safe dish for this, I switched pans because my stainless steel one would’ve been too big for the whole dish. So, you will layer ½ of the sauce at the bottom of a pan or a dish. Then you will add the rolled zucchinis filled with ricotta. And the rest of the sauce in between the rolls and on them too.
How to make it super cheesy?
Since this is basically a zucchini ricotta lasagna, the giveaway to a good lasagna is cheese. The ricotta filling is not enough. You also have to top this whole dish with mozzarella. While I often like to use fresh mozzarella, which, for some reason, is easier to get here than the regular one, I used regular mozzarella. The one that is NOT in brine/whey just looks like normal regular cheese. Grated on top of these zucchini roll-ups with chicken they make a super cheesy dish.
The last and most important step is to bake this in the oven. For the best bubbly cheese, we will cook this for 20 minutes under the foil, and then 10 minutes without getting some light browning going on. Don’t worry if you get some burnt bits on the sides of the pan, those are the best!
Mozzarella is incredible because I swear, sometimes you can just stretch it across the whole room. And it is fun to do so too!
Chicken lasagna zucchini rolls
Ingredients
Chicken and tomato sauce
- 400 g ground chicken
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- 2 shallots chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 400 g can of tomatoes
Zucchini rolls
- 2 zucchinis sliced into ribbons lengthwise
- 3 tbsp salt
- 200 g ricotta
- 1 whole egg
- 150 g grated mozzarella
Instructions
- Place the zucchini ribbons on a towel and sprinkle with salt, let sit while you make the sauce;Pat dry with a paper towel
- Heat a skillet with some oil and brown the ground chicken for 3 minutes
- Add the pepper and shallots and cook for 3 minutes
- Add the sliced garlic and the spices and cook for 3 minutes
- Add the tinned tomatoes and vinegar and cook for 1 minute, remove from heat
- Preheat your oven to 200°C
- Mix the ricotta with the egg
- Make the stuffed zucchini rolls by smearing each zucchini ribbon with 1-1.5 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture, then rolling
- In a baking dish or a pan place 1/2 of the cooked sauce
- Then place the zucchini rolls on top
- Add the rest of the sauce and the grated mozzarella
- Smear a piece of foil with some oil, so it doesn't stick to the cheese, and cover the pan with it
- Cook in the oven for 20 minutes
- Remove the foil and cook for 10 more or until the cheese is bubbly and brown-ish
- Serve with fresh herbs