May 24, 2010

Zucchini Roll-Ups

A few days ago I was sitting at home wondering what to make for lunch. I had some left over spaghetti sauce, cheese and zucchini in the fridge and in the freezer I had a frozen mixed vegetable qeema salan (curried ground beef).  This recipe demonstrates how these ingredients came together.

There aren't really any measurements to this recipe---I just realized something and if your South Asian and your mom taught you how to cook, you can probably relate to this.... As I was growing up, my mom made my sister and I help her in the kitchen. Some days I complained that I wanted to watch tv, but most of the time I found myself spending the better part of my Saturday mornings and afternoons in the kitchen with her. I slowly climbed up the ranks from dish washer and occasional spoon stirrer to prep cook and sous chef. At some point, I wanted to start writing down the recipe for various dishes that were made such as, daal, achari chicken, qeema, etc etc.  However, it wasn't as straight forward as I thought it would be. Anytime I would ask my mom for exact measurements, she would always say "Andaze saan," which can be translated as "based on your judgement."  She, being the executive chef of the Memon household, would either taste the mixture on the stove or merely look into the pot and then decide how much of a certain ingredient she would add to the dish.  I never understood this until now!  I finally made a dish (that was successful) using "my judgement!"

Zucchini Roll-Ups

Slice a zucchini lengthwise into thin strips. You want them thin enough so that they can bend without breaking. Lay each zucchini slice down and put some cooked qeema on top of each slice. Slowly begin to roll each zucchini slice and poke a toothpick through the entire zucchini roll.


Place the rolls in a round oven proof dish.  Layer spoonfuls of spaghetti sauce over the rolls and lightly sprinkle with cheese and chili flakes. 



Put in a few table spoons of water to help cook the zucchini and bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the zucchini is cooked through.



2 comments:

  1. that looks so good! My mom just got back from the interior of BC and brought back some Giant squash and zucchini! I will definitely be looking to make this soon!

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  2. It looks good and tastes even better! It seems like everyone's got loads of zucchini this summer and this is a great way to use them up! Let me know how it turns out.

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