Use your grill to prepare these easy but elegant Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light summer meal.

Use your grill to prepare these easy but elegant Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light summer meal. | foxeslovelemons.com

When you think of grilling, my guess is you don’t think of elegant, “home chef”-style beautiful food. For most people (myself included), everyday summer grilling usually consists of hot dogs, hamburgers, baby back ribs with the best rib rub on them, or root beer ribs, and maybe some rustic grilled veggies.

But it IS totally possible to use your grill to create these unique, pretty Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve them as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light meal (maybe alongside a scoop of seafood pasta salad).

Use your grill to prepare these easy but elegant Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light summer meal. | foxeslovelemons.com

About these Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta:

  • I used a mandoline on a thicker setting to cut my zucchini. If you don’t have a mandoline, you can carefully cut the zucchini into 1/4-inch-thick slices by hand. Be patient with it, and perhaps buy an extra zucchini or two in case you make some mistakes.
  • The cheese filling is simply a combination of cream cheese (I like the whipped kind since it’s light and easy to work with), crumbled feta cheese, red pepper flakes for a bit of spice, and a spoonful of lemon juice to brighten everything up.
  • Traditional feta cheese works just fine here, but I like to add an extra layer of flavor by using Nikos Tomato Basil Feta Cheese. The flavors echo the tomato and basil I have elsewhere in the recipe, and the cheese is still really tangy and crumbly.
  • I used a good quality jarred marinara here, because it’s summer and I don’t feel like standing over the stove to make marinara. However, quick culinary school tomato sauce would be even better.
  • Everything about this dish works well at room temperature. You CAN warm the marinara if you wish, but in my opinion it’s just as good at room temp.
Use your grill to prepare these easy but elegant Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light summer meal. | foxeslovelemons.com
Use your grill to prepare these easy but elegant Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light summer meal. | foxeslovelemons.com

Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta

Yield: 6 servings (3 rolls each as appetizer)
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 minutes

Use your grill to prepare these easy but elegant Grilled Zucchini Roll Ups with Feta. Serve as a party appetizer, a vegetable side dish, or even a light summer meal.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Nikos Crumbled Tomato-Basil Feta Cheese, plus additional for garnish
  • 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • 3 zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices (about 18 slices)
  • Olive oil
  • 18 fresh basil leaves
  • 1 cup prepared marinara sauce, warmed if desired

Instructions

  1. Preheat grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir feta, cream cheese, lemon juice and red pepper flakes until well combined.
  2. Lightly brush both sides of zucchini slices with olive oil. Transfer zucchini to grill and cook 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, or until light grill marks develop and zucchini begins to turn soft and pliable.
  3. Place 1 zucchini slice on work surface. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon cheese mixture evenly over slice. Place 1 basil leave at one end and roll zucchini up like a pinwheel. Repeat with remaining zucchini slices.
  4. Spread marinara on serving platter and place zucchini roll ups on top. Garnish with additional feta and serve immediately.

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Saputo Cheese USA Inc. Sponsored posts help me pay for the costs associated with this blog (groceries…lots of groceries), and help support me as I pursue a career in recipe development and food photography. All opinions are 100% my own.