Recipe Monday: Zucchini Fritters

Today my lovely guest is my dear friend Noemi. You guys know her from all my running shenanigans, marathon and half marathon training. But she’s also a great friend to me, and our daughters are around the same age. Coincidentally (or not?), we also like to eat the same food. Fresh vegetables anyone? Eggs straight from the source? Ice cream?!

When she found out I was looking for guest posters for the week of my move, she gladly volunteered because she had indeed just made the best, most kid-friendly recipe for zucchini fritters!

So without further ado, here’s Noemi!

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Zucchini Fritters

Makes a dozen small fritters

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted a bit from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

½ giant zucchini, about 1lb
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus extra to taste
1 large egg
black pepper to taste
½ tsp Garam Masala
¼ tsp curry powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
(optional: a handful of chopped or shredded cheese)
Olive oil for pan-frying

Directions

The first step in this recipe is to get your hands on a giant zucchini. The kind of zucchini that can be mistaken for a green baseball bat. Wash the zucchini, then cut it in half. I prefer to use the top part of the zucchini for the fritters, since it has fewer seeds in it. Take a large metal box grater, and grate the zucchini into long green strands of delicious vegetables.

Now we have to get the most water out of the vegetable as possible, so that the fritters will be crispy instead of smooshy. This works best if you put the zucchini strands into a colander in your sink. Then sprinkle about 1 tsp of the Kosher salt onto the zucchini to draw out the moisture. Let it sit for about 10 minutes (while it sits, mix up the yogurt dip!). Some of the moisture will drip out of the colander, but then you will have to grab the zucchini by handfuls and wring out the water yourself. It’s fun! It is amazing how much water comes out. Now, it doesn’t have to be bone dry, but try to get most of the water out.

Transfer the squeezed out zucchini strands to a large bowl, then add more salt and black pepper to taste, egg, flour, baking powder, and spices. Here is also where you can add in cheese, if you’d like. I used chopped mozzarella in about half of my fritters. Mix it all up with your hands until everything is well distributed.

Heat up enough oil to cover the bottom of your pan, and bring the heat up (about medium high) until the oil shimmers.

Then form small (about 2 inch diameter) patties of the zucchini mixture and place them in the pan. Leave enough room between patties so that they can crisp nicely on the edges. I fit 3 or 4 patties in my frying pan at a time. Flip after a couple minutes, when you can see the edges becoming brown. Let the patties cook through, then move them to a plate covered in paper towels (to soak up excess oil). Eat them as soon as they are cool!

Don’t forget the yogurt dipping sauce, it was my daughter’s favorite part!

Yogurt Dipping Sauce (don’t skip this!)
1 cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 small minced clove of garlic

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Either dip your fritters into the sauce, or spread the sauce on top of the fritters. So delicious! Enjoy!