This simple appetizer is a perfect starter for a summer dinner. I love the flavor combination of goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh thyme with the grilled zucchini…delicious!

Be sure not to overcook the zucchini on the grill…you just want nice char marks on both sides. Also, cooling the cooked zucchini stips on a wire rack is an important step so they don’t steam and get super limp and mushy. I think the roll-ups were just as good without the Parmesan/broiling step so feel free to skip it if you don’t want to bother with turning on your oven. Enjoy!

Grilled Zucchini & Goat Cheese Roll-Ups
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine
 
Make these ahead, refrigerate them if you like, and broil them briefly before serving. Serve with a first-course green salad or as a side to grilled meat, or as part of an antipasto. Draping grilled vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, and scallions over a cooling rack prevents them from steaming and becoming mushy. Yields 8 to 10 roll-ups.

3 small zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch thick lengthwise strips
extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt
3 oz. goat cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbs. finely chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, well drained
Heaping 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped
2 Tbs. freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Heat a gas grill to high. Brush both sides of the zucchini strips with olive oil and season with kosher salt. Put the strips on the grill at a 45-degree angle to the grates and grill, covered, until well browned and limp, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Check occasionally and move the slices around gently with tongs as necessary so that they brown evenly; don’t undercook them. When done, remove them from the grill and drape them over a cooling rack to keep them from steaming as they cool.

In a bowl, combine the goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, thyme, 1 tsp. olive oil and 1/8 tsp. kosher salt. When the zucchini has cooled completely, spread 1 heaping tsp. of the filling thinly over one side of each grilled zucchini strip (use a mini spatula or your fingers to spread). Roll up the zucchini (not too tightly; this is more like folding), and put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil. Refrigerate if not using within an hour, but bring back to room temperature before broiling. Heat the broiler. Sprinkle with a little grated Parmigiano and brown under the-broiler, about 1 minute.

From Fine Cooking 51, pp. 55
June 1, 2002

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Tags: fresh thyme, goat cheese, Grilling/BBQ, sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, zucchini