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 favorite summer vegetable is sweet corn, grilled with some melted butter/herbs/parmesean cheese! Sweet and salty, so delicious!
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Corn! Grilled with adobo seasoning and a little butter 😀
Simple answer: I love all things zucchini.
Favorite fruit is definitely mango! Favorite veggie is tomatoes or zucchini! Love grilled zucchini!
First time to your site and I love it! Can’t wait to try this recipe – I’m always looking for ways to spice up grilled zucchini. Marinated and grilled veggie kebabs with a mix of yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes are probably my favorite go-to summer recipe – easy and delicious.
I love peaches, cut up and served with ice cream. And when I have a garden, my favorite are tomatoes straight from the garden.
i love roasted beets! this recipe looks yummy.
my favorite, all time vegetable is an avocado. salted, eaten right from the skin with a spoon.
but, i guess it is a fruit.
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Watermelon! I (kind of) wish I had never discovered this – but frozen watermelon margaritas are awesome! 🙂
Tomatoes, hands down. I eat one every day, I put them in panini sandwhiches, have them with canadian bacon in the morning and make mozzarella/tomato pizza, the best! 🙂
I love eggplant: caponata, parmigiana, simply grilled…I loved them all!
I love fresh cherries! So good when I use them to make frozen cherry mojitos!!!
My favorite summer fruit is the cherry. I love to eat them right off the tree, but will also take them with some chocolate in my ice cream!