Tuesday's Twist: Spiraled Zucchini-Carrot Rolls

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

After seeing pictures of vegetable tarts like this, I knew the concept had a lot of potential.  I wanted to try it out, but didn't want to make another vegetable tart like everyone else.  I came up with several ideas to put my own spin on it and finally settled on this one.  Other ideas may surface here in the near future depending on how much zucchini appears on my counter.

I didn't follow a recipe on these, I just went with it and adapted along the way.  I could give you an exact recipe if I made them a few more times to perfect the technique, but what would I do with all those rolls?  Besides, I have way too many variations running through my head of where else we can take this concept.  Instead of an exact recipe, I'll describe the gist of what I did.

I started by  making an onion and herb bread dough based on this recipe from King Arthur Flour.  I replaced the dried herbs with fresh herbs a friend shared and used mashed potato flakes as mentioned in the tips.

Meanwhile, I thinly sliced zucchini and carrots for the filling. My vegetable peeler desperately needs replacing, so I alternated between the peeler and a knife.  Some of the slices were already thin enough to be rolled tightly without breaking.  The slices that were too thick took a quick trip to the griddle until they were pliable.  The zucchini we have right now are massive, so it's hard to give you an accurate measure.  My best guess is that one of the medium zucchini you find in a grocery store would be about right. If you've got zucchini in your garden, you should have plenty :) I used one and a half very large carrots.  The exact amount you need depends on how thinly you slice the vegetables.

 Once the carrots and zucchini were ready, I rolled the dough into a rectangle. Instead of filling and rolling the whole sheet, like you would for cinnamon rolls, I cut the dough into strips the size of the vegetables and rolled each one individually. Each strip was roughly 1-1/2 inches wide and 7 to 8 inches long. (A pizza cutter would be a better option than the knife in the picture below.)

 Layer the zucchini and carrot on top of the dough and roll up.  Make sure the green edge and plenty of orange are protruding out from the dough.

Place the rolls in a greased pan or muffin tins.  If your vegetables are too thick, you may need to pinch and seal the ends to prevent them from unrolling.  

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 to 40 minutes. 

Bake at 350 for 24-28 minutes or until golden brown. 

 I left this batch plain since I wasn't sure what would happen.  You could also brush the dough with olive oil or butter and sprinkle it with garlic and more fresh herbs before layering the zucchini and carrots. Brushing the tops of the rolls just before baking will also help with browning.

These were flavorful as is, but I imagine they would be wonderful with layer of herbed cream cheese wrapped inside.  A basil or sun-dried tomato pesto would also do wonders.  I almost tried spreading hummus inside, but I had too many other projects going on in the kitchen at the same time. You could also sprinkle in Parmesean or cheddar cheese for an extra flavor boost.  How about pizza sauce under that zucchini for a veggie pizza roll?  You could even play with the sauce in this pizza for an Asian twist. 

Okay, I'll stop now, but see what I mean?  My head doesn't stop spinning and I rarely try the same thing twice.  You should see the list of zucchini ideas I scribbled down.  So much to do and so little time.  At least this one got checked off the list, or at least has a good starting point for a recipe.  

Wait, one more thing.  Eggplant would also add a nice purple color, but I'm still iffy on eggplant.  I've only used it a few times and haven't exactly fallen in love.  Yellow summer squash would safely add another color.  Hmmm, I wonder what would happen using kale or red cabbage?  Or...oh never mind, I just need to stop. 

  Food for Thought: "Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them." -Albert Einstein 
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