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”
Corn Baby! Corn on the cob!
My favorite summer fruit is definitely nectarines. Mmm… so sweet and juicy!
Favorite summer veggie is probably zucchini, and I love it sliced down and sauteed OR shredded up into zucchini bread 😉
My favorite fruit is grilled pineapple with honey and teriyaki sauce. My favorite vegetable is grilled corn slathered in mayo and fresh shredded parmesean then wrapped in foil and grilled.
Also, I am a FB fan, indeed!
I love hood berries! They are so much sweeter than the strawberries you might buy at the store, and even better, there is a farm in my town where I can go and pick my own! Such a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.
My favorite thing to make with hood berries is strawberry lemonade… also a perfect summer treat. Since the berries are sweeter, you need almost no added sugar, you can just enjoy the flavors as nature intended.
I really like avocadoes and mango usually together in a salad
I love summer tomatoes with basil and mozzarella drizzled with a balsamic reduction.
peaches, i use them many ways. my fav is a cobbler. the topping is like a biscuit but with a little white cornmeal. so jucy and fresh.
P.S. We just “liked” you on Facebook! See you at the Twitter Party! 🙂
Favorite is bing cherries. Favorite way…bing cherry mint and basil clafouti with a lemon cream sorbet. Yum.
Our favorite vegetable any time of the year is Zucchini! 😀 We buy it fresh in the summer, by the cases, and freeze it to eat all year round in soup, stews, steamed…now I’m hungry! LOL This recipe is being tried immediately, thank you for sharing! 🙂 My favorite way to cook Zucchini… sauteed in ‘Coogootz Sandwiches’, a simple saute in olive oil, a sprinkling of Himalayan Sea Salt, between your favorite bread and, voila, an all-time comfort food! 🙂
Favorite, that’s tuff! Especially since there are only two I don’t like and there both vegetables.
Fruits love them all! I will have to say I eat ALOT of Argula. It’s so versatile, I use it in pasta, rice, chicken or just in salad.
Watermelon is the greatest!!!
I love yellow squash, especially the small ones! We eat pounds of them every summer and put cooked bagfuls in the freezer.
Nothing beats watermelon in the summer. I don’t cook it.
P