A fun summertime joke to kick off this recipe:
Why do people keep their car doors locked in July? To keep their neighbors from dropping off free zucchini.
It’s the time of year when every gardener is overrun with zucchini, handing it out to everyone at the office, next door, at church or anywhere really they can find a willing taker.
Mary Rapoport, consumer affairs director for the Virginia Egg Council, has the perfect recipe for helping get rid of all that zucchini your friends are passing around, since when you have a zucchini plant, you quickly have more than you can consume yourself and you start to share. “Even kids that are veggie-adverse will love these since they’re more like a crispy pancake than an actual vegetable. The good news is you can make them ahead and reheat for later. The main trick is to squeeze out as much liquid as possible, since zucchini can be soggy, which isn’t what this recipe wants. Experiment with various dipping sauces.”
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ pounds of zucchini (2 cups drained squash)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup chopped green onion
- 1 ½ tsp. sea salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ¾ cup flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. dill (opt.)
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- Sauce for dipping: Tzatziki/Aioli/Salsa, etc.
Directions:
- Wash/dry Zucchini, remove each end. Using a box grater or food processor, grate the squash and squeeze out all the liquid (use a cheesecloth to squeeze out, or sprinkle with salt and let sit in a strainer, pressing down on it). You’ll be shocked at how much liquid is in squash – we got 1 full cup of liquid when testing this recipe!
- Mix eggs and green onions. Fold in the squash and all the dry ingredients.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of batter into the oil, flatten and cook for 3-5 min. per side until golden and crispy.
- Serve with garlic aioli, sour cream, tzatziki sauce, salsa, etc.
- Can be made ahead/freeze/reheat in 350° oven for 15 min., until hot and crispy.
Makes 16 fritters, enough for five – eight servings.
Check out more recipes from the Virginia Egg Council.