I never thought that I’d really enjoy an Italian meal that’s missing pasta. This zucchini ravioli is amazing.
The zucchini is the “ravioli” part of this recipe. You use a vegetable peeler to slice thin wide strips (think of lasagna noodles). Then you fill the zucchini slices with a ricotta cheese mixture and it ends up looking like a ravioli. Nifty, right? I’m a girl who loves pasta, and I thought I’d miss it, but I don’t. Maybe it’s because you still get a whole lot of cheese and let’s face it, cheese makes everything better. Especially Italian dishes.
My husband asked me if it was a pain to peel the zucchini. Once I got into the groove of doing it, it’s not so bad. I think if you’ve made “zoodles” (zucchini cut to look like noodles) then you can do this. Does it take time? Yes. Is it worth it? Also, yes.
I love how beautiful it turned out. In fact, I’m so impressed with the presentation that I might make this for dinner when we host around the holidays. I can prepare it ahead of time and just pop it into the oven when we’re ready to eat. I absolutely live for make-ahead meals when we entertain so that I can enjoy hanging out with our company without being chained to the stove all night.
Gosh, I can’t believe that I’m already talking about the holidays!
Zucchini Ravioli Recipe
(About 4 to 6 servings)
Ingredients:
- 3 to 4 medium zucchini
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus more for sprinkling on top
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups marinara sauce (I used Bertolli’s Tomato and Basil.)
- about 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Slice the 2 ends off of the zucchini. Then lengthwise, cut just a little bit off to be able to use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini into thin flat strips (like lasagna noodles). Then slice the zucchini, using the vegetable peeler to get as many slices as you can. Move on to the next zucchini until you’ve run out of cheese filling.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, lightly beaten egg, chopped fresh basil, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Set this aside.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of marinara sauce into a 9 x 13 baking dish and set it aside.
- To assemble the ravioli:
- Lay 2 strips of zucchini noodles lengthwise so that they overlap each other slightly.
- Lay another 2 strips of zucchini noodles lengthwise so that they overlap each other slightly, in a perpendicular orientation to the first set of 2 strips that you laid down. It will look like a cross.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of cheese filling into the center of the zucchini cross.
- Bring the ends of the zucchini strips to fold over the center, one side at a time.
- Place the zucchini ravioli seam side down into the prepared baking dish.
- Repeat until you have no ingredients left. I got about 17.
- I baked mine in two baking dishes so that I didn’t crowd them for photos, but you can fit them all in the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining marinara sauce on top of the zucchini ravioli.
- Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle fresh chopped basil and grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Source: Delish
Very clever, Tina, using the zucchini as the pasta. It’s very colorful. Can a mandolin be used to slice the zucchini instead of the peeler?
I’m glad that I found this recipe! I think a mandolin would work but I’ve never used one.