Zucchini herb fritters |

Summer

Submitted by Karen D on Sat, 2008-07-19 12:2812:28:28 PM.

These fritters make a good amount of zucchini disappear, though I'm not sure how healthy a meal they make once fried!  I used zucchini, parsley and basil from our CSA (Sweet Land Farm in Trumansburg), as well as local eggs from Greenstar.  (Byrne Dairy stores also carry fairly local eggs.)  The shallot came from our garden.

Roughly 2.5 pounds of zucchini, coarsely shredded.
3 large or 4 medium eggs, beaten
1 large shallot, chopped, with a few inches of stem included
1- 1.5 c breadcrumbs (I used the Wegmans Italian-flavor type)
3 cloves garlic, chopped/diced
1/2 to 3/4 c parsley, chopped
1/2 c fresh basil, chopped
1/2 c milk (or as needed for batter consistency)
ground pepper
olive oil for frying

Shred the zucchini and salt it lightly in a colander.  Let the salt draw out some of the zucchini's moisture for at least 30 minutes.  Squeeze out extra moisture.  You want the zucchini pulp, not all its liquid!

Mix the other ingredients together, barring the pepper and the oil.  You want a dryish batter, because despite your best efforts, you will get plenty of moisture with the zucchini!  Stir the zucchini into the batter and season well with pepper.  If things look too dry, you can either add a fourth egg (for a cakey texture), more milk, or simply wait for the zucchini pulp to sweat out more liquid.

Heat the oil in a skillet or frying pan.  You don't need a huge amount at any one time, but you are likely to have to refresh your oil as you make more fritters.  Let the oil be HOT, and keep your fritters to a manageable size.  I found that ~1/4 c of batter made for fritters that were large enough to be efficient (I didn't have to fry 50 little patties) but small enough to be flippable.  Allow to cook to a golden brown on the bottom before attempting to flip.  I like some crunchiness at the edge.

Serve hot.  Sour cream might be a traditional accompaniment, but I thought these were great with some of the cherry chutney we canned last summer with cherries from Cobblestone Winery and/or Grisamore Farms.


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