Grilled Artichoke Pesto Zucchini Bites
Zucchini ribbons are grilled and rolled with a delicious artichoke pesto for a creative and delicious summer appetizer!
It’s easy to get creative with cookies, cakes, and other baked goodies, isn’t it?
Take a chocolate cake for instance.
It can be layered with vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, lemon filling, raspberry filling, peanut butter frosting, whipped meringue, chocolate ganache, and on and on.
But how about getting creative with healthy things?
It’s so easy to get in a rut with vegetables.
You pick up a zucchini and you stare…what do I do with this?
Because chances are, you’ve already sauteed it, steamed it, and grilled it.
These preparations get old.
Let’s do something a little more fun with zucchini today.
Toss some artichoke hearts, a handful of fresh parsley, walnuts, lemon zest and juice, and garlic into a food processor:
Pulse, pulse, pulse.
Stream in some olive oil, and stir in parmigiano reggiano, and you’ll end up with a bowl of this:
Grill up some thin slices of zucchini, and spread each zucchini ribbon with a spoonful of the artichoke pesto:
Roll it up, nice and tight:
And that’s it! Ready to serve. Easy peasy and a totally delicious celebration of summer veggies.
Also check out my Ultimate Guide to Zucchini! It covers how to store zucchini, how to pick a good one at the grocery, and 60+ recipe ideas using zucchini.
Grilled Artichoke Pesto Zucchini Bites
Ingredients
- 2 lbs zucchini about 2-3 large zucchini
- 9 oz package frozen artichoke hearts thawed and squeezed of excess water
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- the leaves of half a bunch of parsley about a cup
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 oz parmigiano reggiano grated (about 1/2 cup)
Instructions
- Cut the stem off the zucchinis, then use a mandolin to slice them into long thin ribbons. They should be about 1/8 inch thick, if they’re too thin they won’t stand up on the own, but if they’re too thick, they won’t be flexible enough to roll. Give each one a little sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat the grill to high, and do a quick sear of the zucchini. Since they are really thin, they should only be on the grill for about 30-60 seconds, just enough to take the raw edge off and give them some pretty little grill marks. Remove the grilled zucchini ribbons to a plate.
- In a food processor, throw in the artichoke hearts, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, walnuts, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Let the food processor run for a good 20 seconds, until everything is chopped up, and be sure to stop and scrape down the sides from time to time. With the food processor running, stream in the olive oil. Scrape the pesto out into a bowl, and stir in the grated parmesan. Taste it to check for proper seasoning.
- Place a spoonful of artichoke pesto into each zucchini ribbon, and roll it up into a little roll. The artichoke pesto is sticky so it should stick together well. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
269 Comments on “Grilled Artichoke Pesto Zucchini Bites”
My favorites are artichokes in a spinach and artichoke lasagna, cauliflower baked with Parmesan or pretty much any kind of berry- especially blackberries and raspberries ontop of plain vanilla ice cream or yogurt!!
I’ve already been a Facebook fan!! 🙂
Ps- trying these zucchini thing this week! They look Delish!
Great idea – I am a huge fan of artichoke hearts and zucchini!
I love blueberries and like them best in blueberry cake (a recipe from the 1800s from a friend of my grandmother’s), but more often have them on cereal or on pancakes.
I like your Facebook page!
I’m a huge fan of zucchini, artichokes, kale, and broccoli!
Favorite summer vegetable: tomatoes. Mostly eaten raw, added to sandwiches and salads or pasta. But when they start to accumulate faster than I can use them (esp. cherry tomatoes), I oven-dry them. Overrun with zucchini now, so I love this roll-up idea!
My favorite summer fruit is avocado… on anything!!
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My favorite summer vegetable is white corn! I love to make a homemade pizza with bacon, brentwood corn and arugula or a tomato, corn and bell pepper salad.
My favorite is avocado in guacamole!
My favorite veggie is the tomato, though I don’t cook it. I love making fresh salsa with them, my hot peppers, cilantro and anything else from my garden. Neat idea with the zucchini 🙂
Red peppers from our summer garden. Stuffed with all sorts of herb based fillings and wrapped in Bacon. Then grilled.
My favorite summer vegetable is crook-neck squash… It’s my favorite because when I was a little kid I lived in Connecticut with my Grandma and every summer we would grow crook-neck squash… I miss her a lot so everytime I have squash I remember those summers. I like to steam it with a little butter… Lately I have also been enjoying corn on the grill.
Miss you Joanne!!
Nectarines. I love to grill them and dust them with vietnamese cinnamon. They’re an amazing topping for raw whipped cream, homemade ice cream, etc.
My favorite summer fruit is mango which I make into a salsa for a side dish with everything!
My favorite is peaches and i LOVE grilled peaches in a salad!