:: Zucchini Fritters ::

This isn't my recipe. Well, it is, now I've adapted it to suit us, but it originally came from Plan to Eat (who posted it as part of their reviews on the book, Nourishing Traditions!) It is a great way to use up all those zucchini you keep finding hiding away in the garden, growing bigger every second you don't harvest them. You can use long zucchini, button squash, yellow, dark green, pale green, overgrown or just right zucchini for this recipe. If you are using a really big overgrown zucchini, remove the seed section first, otherwise, for all others, just leave it in. I usually have dry {gluten free} breadcrumbs on hand in the freezer (defrost beforehand), though I am sure I made fresh {GF} breadcrumbs to use in this recipe one time, that also worked fine. I have used this recipe many times since I discovered it last year, it is easy and kid-friendly. Hope you find the same thing!

Zucchini Fritters (or pancakes, if you prefer, though pikelets might be more apt)

Makes lots, maybe about 12 larger flat ones!

Ingredients

• about 3 to 4 medium to large zucchini (equals about 4 cups grated zucchini)
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten (free range or backyard eggs, please)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups bread crumbs (gluten free, white, wholegrain, whatever you have)
• coconut oil or lard for frying (something with a high smoke point, ie. you don't want your oil to burn, it is bad for you then!)

Optional

• ¹⁄₂ cup finely grated hard cheese, like parmesan or hard goats cheese
• crushed garlic clove or two
• finely chopped fresh herbs or chillies, or ground spices that you might like to add

Method

1. Finely grate the zucchini. Mix it with salt in a large bowl, and let it stand for about 30 minutes to draw the excess moisture from the zucchini (or however long until you remember, that's right, I have salted zucchini on my bench for dinner!!) Rinse well with water, and squeeze dry through a sieve or colander.
2. Now add the eggs, onion, breadcrumbs, and whatever other additions/ flavourings you are using.
3. Heat a frypan or BBQ, and carefully add some oil or lard to melt.
4. If your mix is quite firm, you can press patties in your hands to make nice fat fritters, then transfer them carefully to start frying. If the mix seems quite wet still despite your salting, rinsing & squeezing (see photo below), use a spoon to scoop a portion of the mix to the side of the bowl and squeeze a bit more of the juices out, then plop the spoonful of mix onto the BBQ or frypan. Using the back of the spoon, spread it out to the desired fritter (or rather, pikelet!) size and thickness. You can always add a little more, or take a little away, but do this quickly.
5. Give them about 3 to 5 minutes to fry, and get nice and goldeny-brown, then using a spatula, turn the fritters over, to cook the other side. If you turned them a little too soon (see photo below) then let them cook the second side, but you can always turn them back again to finish off the undercooked side.
6. Keep adding lard or coconut oil (or whatever frying medium you are using) as necessary to make sure you get that crispy, golden, deliciousness. That's the key, I reckon!
7. Put the cooked ones onto a plate, while you do more batches until the mix is finished.
8. Serve with salad, and a condiment, like chargrilled salsa, or chilli sauce, or homemade relish! Also good in a bun with lettuce and stuff to make a burger.