I think it’s about time I hire someone who will make up recipe names for my blog. I suck ass at it. I’ll pay them nothing, but I’ll feed them. Roll ups just remind you of fruit roll ups when you were a kid doesn’t it? Then gross you out since these have sausage in them? Same. Why did I ever like fruit roll ups? They never had a chocolate roll up. What was I thinking? Sometimes I hate my child self.
These are bomb though. Grilled zucchini + pesto + basil = why the hell wouldn’t it taste good? Duh. These would be perfect for a little appetizer. If I hosted parties, I’d totally make these for it. Instead I just eat all of them by myself. Life.Is.Good.
These kinda look like sushi rolls. I wish I liked sushi.
I went to the store yesterday and bought men’s clinical strength deodorant. Men’s. And I was opening and smelling every single kind. What smell was I looking for exactly? I’m trying to get dates, dates who are men. Most likely they aren’t going to be intrigued by the hue of man odor I leave behind while hugging them. Dating sucks.
Anywho, going back to life being good, I’ve been trying to be more positive lately. If you’ve read my blog much, you know I complain about petty sh*t constantly. Like the size of my ass. It’s annoying. Sometimes slightly humorous, but mostly annoying. I apologize. So I’ve been on the up and up train lately (whatever the sh*t that means) by writing a little more. I sometimes write in my gratitude journal (yes, that’s a real thing) and then I just sometimes write my feelings out for the world to see when I write for Again Faster. And that’s what I did last week. You can check out my latest article with them here.
So sweets have entered back in my life a bit. I know, I know. I don’t need to hear it. But I’m going to have to say goodbye to them once again. I’m trying to get a date here and if I eat even a teaspoon of honey, my body puffs up. No joke. I get a zit and I have a puffy stomach. What the sh*t is that. Dislike button right there. And the amount of things I’ll be cooking for my cookbook is going to be out of control. So I NEED this date so I have one more person to feed all this food to. A good looking one. Who CrossFits. And is funny. Eff you sweets. I don’t need you.
My brain is so weird.
Zucchini Pesto Roll Ups
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Ingredients
- 2 zucchinis, ends removed, sliced 1/4 inch thick lengthwise
- 4 italian sausages (I used Boulder Sausage brand)
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 garlic clove
- salt and pepper to taste
- pinch of garlic powder
- 3 extra tablespoons olive oil to cook your zucchini with
Instructions
- Heat up your grill.
- Slice your zucchini with a knife or using a mandoline.
- Place your zucchini in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, and a pinch of garlic powder then use your hands to mix it and coat the zucchini.
- Place your italian sausages on the grill along with your zucchini.
- While the zucchini and sausages are cooking, make your pesto.
- Add your walnuts, garlic clove, and basil to the food processor and turn on. Then begin to add your olive oil while the food processor is still running.
- Then add your lemon juice and salt and pepper. Taste to see if you need more basil or lemon or salt and pepper. I think more lemon juice goes a long way.
- After your zucchini have cooked for about 4-5 minutes and have begun to show grill marks, flip them. Be sure to keep an eye on them because they will burn rather quickly.
- Once your zucchini are cooked through and sausage are completely cooked through, remove them to let cool.
- When your zucchini are cool to the touch, use a spoon to spread the pesto down the center of the zucchini strip and cut off an inch or so piece of sausage.
- Place the sausage in the middle of the zucchini so the cut sides are facing towards the outer ridges of the zucchini. You’ll figure it out.
- Wrap the zucchini around the sausage and use a toothpick to hold it in place.
- Serve to others or eat by yourself while watching the food network.
Notes
Makes 11-12 rolls
They could be Zucchini Pesto Bites! 🙂
What you have there are Zucchini Pesto Roulades. And they look delicious.
You could just call em Zuppers!
These look BOMB! Just added to my recipe list on phone shopping list!! So making these this weekend!
Reminds me of sushi a little….Zuke Sushi? eh. I’m not good at this. But they look so freakin’ tasty!!
Hey Juli! I really enjoy reading your blog every day. Your Again Faster post was great! I try to do the same in my life! I don’t know if you’ve seen this TED talk, but it is kind of along the same lines. I heard her talk and I think the message is really powerful!
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
This doesn’t have anything to do with this post really but I just wanted to say that you inspired me to do the 21DSD. I probably should have waited for post-ice cream season. It’s been hard with marathon training (I know marathons are stupid but I like them for now) and a husband that has ZERO- like negative zero interest in joining me, or paleo, or any nutritional awareness when eating at all.
I’m on day 12 and wanted to ask how your body has adjusted to taking in sugar again, which you brushed on in this post and I think is interesting. I totally cannot wait to have a ripe banana or a date again. In the meantime though I do feel pretty awesome so thank you for being my motivation to try this (and annoy everyone in my life that can’t understand why I’m trying this)
Michelle,
Congrats on taking on the 21DSD. I have been doing the paleo thing for over a year now, and until last month, had yet to complete a Whole30 or sugar detox of any kind. I always ended up giving up near the end. Like Juli, I cut out all nuts and sugar during the detox (I didn’t have any fruit at all). After I finished (yay!) my husband and I celebrated my success with tgipaleo.com’s double layer chocolate chip brownie. OMG rich. The next day I ate way too many masala banana chips, and I can’t tell you how gross I felt. Personally, at the end of the 21DSD I felt freaking phenomenal. I was probably as lean as I’d ever been, and my performance in the gym did not suffer. Immediately after going back on sugar, I broke out super bad (also due to the fact that I had a wine/cheese night that weekend) and felt lethargic, unmotivated, unsexy, etc. So even now that I’m not officially on a detox, I haven’t had any added sugar over a week, and I’m back to feeling on top of the world again. I’m not necessarily shying away from fruit now either. We have apple trees in our backyard which are becoming more delicious by the day. I’m also making coconut milk ice cream tonight with roasted peaches and blackberries (no sugar added though). I think after the detox, you’ll really be able to listen to how your body feels when you reintroduce those things. I hate foods that make me feel like an addict (masala banana chips, TJ’s 70% dark chocolate). For me, I’m kind of an all or nothing person. I have no stop button. Wish I did, but until then, I just don’t eat things that have the Pringles side effect: once it pops, you just can’t stop. Good luck!!!
Thanks Meaghan.
Yeah I’m so curious to see what I’ll feel like after 21 days. I feel so much better now just after 12 and honestly my favorite ice cream has been in my freezer and not even tempting me (although for some reason the ice cream stand at the beach is *much* harder to resist)
I will probably follow suit and add back minimal fruits and see how that goes. I’d love to continue feeling how I feel now but honestly, I know I will have to have my bananas on Sept.1 🙂
That’s interesting that you’ve had those instant reactions to adding even natural sugars back. I’m hoping to have a greater appreciation for what sugar does to me and how it makes me feel, and that will be my motivation to continue to cut or minimize sugar in what I eat after 21 days (hopefully).
I have to say even though it bores everyone around me (so I don’t talk about it much) I have really enjoyed making all sorts of recipes and dessert alternatives (boiled/mushed carrots and cinnamon with some almond milk are awesome) and the change I feel. I would never have thought I’d get this far. Thanks again for sharing your experience and on what to possibly expect when I’m done.
Sounds awesome, Michelle. I just made coconut milk ice cream last night with roasted peaches and blackberries and a sprig of rosemary (weird but awesome). No added sugars except what was in the fruit. My husband and I had a small bowl and it was amazing. It’s amazing how after a few weeks, your taste buds can actually detect the natural sweetness in things like carrots and potatoes. (mashed oriental sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon) 🙂
Zushi
Recipe looks good, Was thinking of making it but then remembered my 3 and 5 y/o’s will pick these apart because they won’t fit in their mouth. Maybe next time it’s only adults around I’ll put some out, they look great.
These could easily go full size with eggplant, and then you could call them eggplant rollatini, which is a real name of a real dish. I’ll definitely be making these, by the way. These are very appealing and will be my very impressive, give no credit to Juli, impress everyone at my box, end of paleo challenge potluck dish. Well, I’ll probably admit it’s your recipe. Maybe.
They did make a chocolate fruit roll up when we were children! I remember being pretty young and not liking it one bit. Imagine a stickier tootsie roll. yeah. not-so-much.
I can relate to the honey. I had some last night. My face looks like a pizza and my stomach is the size of a small basketball!! Thanks for your recipes! I absolutely Love them!!