1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Marinara Sauce

1. In a medium saucepan set over medium high heat, add the onion and cook to start softening. After 4 minutes or so, add the garlic. Sauté, stirring till everything is almost translucent.
2. Add the sausage if using and cook till browned, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon into small bits. Once browned and most of the fat is gone continue with the next step.
3. Season everything with the Italian seasoning, basil, oregano, butter and tomato paste, stirring to completely blend.
4. Add the tomato purée and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes. This can be made in advance and stored in a sealed container in the fridge till needed.
5. If you have made the marinara sauce in advance and stored it in the fridge, bring it to room temperature.

Zucchini

1. Trim the each end of each zucchini. Using a mandolin set at the 1/6 inch setting, cut the zucchini into as many slices as is reasonable. Repeat with all the zucchini.
2. Alternatively, stand each vertically, and make 1/4-inch thick cuts down to create long slices—these don’t have to be perfect.
3. In the end you want enough slices to make 12-15 rollups, wether from individual large slices, or doubled up medium slices. Arrange the slices on the prepared baking sheets.

4. Drizzle the zucchini lightly with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer pan to the oven and roast for 6-8 minutes, see Notes. Remove pans from the oven and use a fork or tongs to flip each zucchini slice over, return pans to the oven, and roast for 2-3 minutes more, or longer if needed. See Notes.

5. Remove pan from oven. Keep oven on.

Filling

1. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan set over medium high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil until shimmering. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until the onion is softened. If it is browning too quickly, reduce the heat a little. Add the spinach, kale and/or chard leaves, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and sauté, until softened, about 2 minutes or until wilted. Season with nutmeg. Remove pan from heat. Let it cool slightly before adding it to the ricotta.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, shredded cheese and 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and the chilli flakes. When chard has cooled briefly, stir it into the ricotta mixture. Taste mixture. Add more salt and pepper to taste—this is your chance to make sure the filling is seasoned properly.

Assemble the Involtini

1. Spoon 1 1/12 cups or so of the tomato sauce into a 9×13-inch or comparable baking dish—the bottom of the dish should be covered in a good layer. Place a heaping tbsp of filling at one end of each of the zucchini slices. If using smaller zucchini slices lay two side by side, slightly overlapping them.

2. Roll the slice into a tight coil and nestle it seam-side down on top of the tomato sauce. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and bake until the sauce has reduced slightly and is bubbling, and the rolls are lightly golden on top, about 10 minutes.

3. At this point take the pan from the oven and top evenly with the torn fresh mozzarella, and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. If the rolls are not golden and the cheese hasn't started to bubble on top after the 25 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and preheat the broiler. Broil the involtini for about 3 minutes keeping a close watch the entire time. Remove pan from the oven and finish with chopped parsley or basil.
4. See the blog post for more details and suggestions.