This recipe for Spanakopita Stuffed Zucchini Roll-Ups takes a nod from the Italian dish “Involtini”. Involtini means a small bite of food with an outer layer wrapped around a filling. And of course, had to put a Greek spin on it by using spanakopita as our filling. If you’ve been following us for a while now then you know we love incorporating this salty, cheesy spinach mixture into many of our dishes. It’s just too good not to!
Making the Spanakopita Filling
If you use frozen spinach (which we do 99.9% of the time!) make sure you thaw it ahead of time. The frozen spinach holds a lot of water so once it’s thawed you’ll need to squeeze out excess water or else the filling mixture will be too runny. You’ll also want to get a frozen spinach bag that says “chopped” which makes it easier to use and you don’t have to worry about chopping it yourself. If you choose to use fresh spinach then give it a thorough wash, chop it and saute in a pan with a little olive oil until the spinach has wilted. Add your spinach to a medium/large bowl followed by the feta and ricotta cheese. Chop 2 large green onions and add them to the bowl (you could also saute the green onion if you’d like) and lastly add in fresh dill and salt. Mix all of the ingredients in the bowl together. You could make this mix ahead of time and just cover and set in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
Prepping the Zucchini
Preparing the zucchini is the most important part of this dish. Make sure you cut the zucchini into thin enough strips that way they are easy to bend around the filling. We recommend using a mandolin to cut the zucchini which will create even slices. Zucchini holds a lot of water, so pat the slices dry with a kitchen towel to remove some of the moisture.
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Assembling the rolls
Start by getting the pan ready by layering ¾’s of the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9×13” glass pan. On a flat surface lay 2 slices of zucchini down vertically and overlap them slightly. Scoop 1-2 tablespoons of spanakopita filling at one end of the zucchini slices. Roll into a tight coil starting at the end with the filling being cautious not to let the filling spill out of the sides. Place in the baking dish on the bed of tomato sauce. Repeat until all of the zucchini slices have been used up. You will want to pack the rollups tightly together in the pan so that they don’t start to unravel. Top with the remaining tomato sauce and dried oregano. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the zucchini has softened and started to brown slightly.
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Spanakopita Stuffed Zucchini Roll-Ups
Ingredients
- 2 large zucchini
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- ½ cup feta cheese
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup chopped frozen spinach thawed
- 2 green onions chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cut off the stem zucchini and cut lengthwise into ¼” thick even slices using a mandolin or a knife.
- Lay the slices flat on a kitchen towel and allow to rest to draw out the moisture.
- To make the filling combine the cheeses, spinach, dill, green onions and salt and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Layer ¾’s of the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce in the bottom of 9×13 glass pan.
- Pat the zucchini slices dry with another towel.
- On a flat surface lay 2 slices of zucchini down vertically and slightly overlap them.
- Scoop 1-2 tablespoons of spanakopita filling at one end of the zucchini slices.
- Roll into a tight coil around starting at the end with the filling being cautious not to let the filling spill out of the sides.
- Place in the baking dish on the bed of tomato sauce.
- Repeat until all of the zucchini slices have been used up. You will want to pack the rollups tightly together in the pan so that they don’t start to unravel.
- Top with the remaining tomatoes, sauce and dried oregano and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the zucchini has softened and started to brown slightly. Serve immediately.
