Sunday Lunch. Grilled Lamb Chops And Zucchini Roll Ups.

Welcome to Sunday lunch with the Hawthornes.

Mr. Hawthorne and I went to Food Lion and came back with some lamb chops. I love lamb chops and can't remember the last time I had them because they're just too expensive. Usually, they're $12.99 - $16.99/pound. Check these out:

These were originally $6.99/pound and they're reduced.

We will be grilling lamb chops for lunch. If you have a garden and grow your own zucchini, you know this is true: You go out every day to check your zucchinis. You lift up the scratchy leaves and peer underneath for that camouflaged, elusive zucchini. Then one day you go out and when you pull back the leaves, you find a zucchini the size of your leg. How did I miss it? I want my zucchinis and squash to be quite petite. They're at their freshest and bestest then - flavor-wise and texture-wise. If you missed those sweet baby zukes and ended up with Zugantua, then by all means, use it for zucchini bread. My zucchini roll ups are also an excellent way to use Zuzilla. In fact, for this particular application you would actually want the large zukes. Just use the outside flesh when you slice the zucchini. In the middle, a huge zucchini is terribly fibrous and I wouldn't bother to use that at all. You'll be able to look at the flesh and see the difference in texture. Sooooooo, after I made those 2 huge loaves of zucchini bread the other day, I still had most of my baseball bat-sized zucchini left. I've been thinking about how to utilize the rest of the zucchini and came up with these stuffed zucchini roll ups.

This is my zucchini after I'd already grated about 3 cups off it. Mr. Hawthorne is peeling it.

Now he's cutting 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick slices.

I drizzled Extra Virgin Olive Oil, not my usual ELBOO (That's Extra Light Bertolli Olive Oil!) because I wanted the fruity flavor of this particular oil.

Crack some pepper and salt. Rub and toss with hands to coat, adding more oil, pepper, and salt. I set the slices aside while I started on my fillings for the roll ups.

Feta cheese and fresh mint.

Mince the mint and fork it into the feta. How much of each? Start with the feta and add in some mint. Taste. Adjust. Simple.

Chevrion goat cheese and fresh basil.

Just mix the goat cheese with the basil. Taste. Adjust.

Next, I sauteed some slices of hickory smoked ham in some buttah.

Mr. Hawthorne grilled the zuke slices for a few minutes on each side.

And now I'm ready to roll.

I spread a bit of the basil and goat cheese mixture down the length of the zucchini slice and added a few slices of the ham.

Then I added a few basil leaves ...

... and rolled the slice up. Secure with a toothpick.

Next, I did a feta/mint/ham roll up.

Can you tell which two Mr. Hawthorne rolled up? If you guessed the sloppy fat ones lying on their sides then you would be correct.

Mr. Hawthorne and I loved the flavors. The mint is wonderful with the feta and the basil is perfect with the goat cheese. Everything is so cohesive.

The crispness and saltiness of the ham dances with the buttery smoothness of the cheeses.

Now that I'm looking at these pictures and knowing I have another huge zucchini sitting on my kitchen counter, I'm thinking a zucchini lasagna would be an excellent way to use it up.

Here's Mr. Hawthorne's platter of grilled lamb chops and fillet mignons.

And here's a plate of summer.

Tomatoes still warm from the sun sprinkled with some of the extra cheese and herb mixture.

Freshly cracked pepper and salt.

As Mr. Hawthorne said, the zucchini roll-up is a "keeper." I must agree.