Zucchini has become one of my all time favorite veggies, if not the favorite. I use it in a ton of the stuff that I cook and its good in everything. Seriously, everything. I’m a huge fan of lasagna or manicotti, or anything that has lots of cheese. Cheese is the spice of life. So I took zucchini, sliced them, filled them with cheese, and rolled them. Topped them with meat sauce, voila. A dish you will be living for, aka Manicotti Zucchini roll ups.

To fill a 9×13 pan I used around 6-8 zucchini, depending on how large they are. I sliced them long ways, as thin as I could with a knife. This would probably be a lot easier with a something like a mandolin, but I used what I had. Spread the ricotta mixture (ingredients listed at end of post) on a slice of zucchini and “roll” it up. I use the term roll lightly, as some of my slices were not thin and flexible enough to roll, but rather to be folded-ish. Put the rolled up zucchini in the dish and once all the zucchini are in, top it with you meat sauce.

Bake in the oven at 350 for around 20 minutes. Pull the dish out and top with mozzarella or Parmesan. Pop it back in the oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

There you have it. Manicotti zucchini roll ups. Fabulous. These also warm up really well, so I tend to make extra and have them for leftovers during the week. If there is one thing I love, its leftovers. Leftovers and cheese. Leftovers with cheese.

Let us know in the comments if you try it, and how you like it!

Ricotta cheese mixture:

1 14 oz. container of part skim ricotta cheese

1 egg

pepper to taste

salt to taste

sprinkle of mozzarella

sprinkle of parmesan

Meat Sauce:

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes

2 tbl spoons of tomato paste

2 tspns oregano

1 tspn cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic

Cook the ground turkey until no longer pink and drain any excess grease. Add in garlic, bell pepper, and spices. Cook until you can smell the garlic. Add in crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes, or until you get the desired consistency. Its a pretty straight forward and easy recipe! Enjoy!

Are you a fellow zucchini lover? Share your favorite way to eat zucchini in the comments!

You can also check out more recipes here!