Zucchini Fritters: For When “Abundant” is an Understatement
There is nothing better than the abundance that comes from one’s own garden. At the peak of summer, each day brings a new harvest and cooking with food you’ve grown yourself is simply the best. From fresh herbs and tomatoes, to snap peas and hot peppers, every day is an adventure. If you are an experienced green thumb—or know someone who is—you know that zucchini squash are among the more enthusiastic producers. The zucchini avalanche can be intimidating, but finding new ways to eat all that bounty is the best kind of problem to have. We like to grill it with olive oil and fresh herbs, layer it into a ratatouille, and—best of all—make these parmesan-laced, crispy zucchini fritters with tzatziki sauce.
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Hold on, I Heard A Crazy Rumor. Is Zucchini a Fruit?
Yes! Zucchini’s scientific name is cucurbita pepo, and is—as you probably know—a member of the squash family, and squashes are indeed classified as fruit! Zucchini—or courgettes as they’re known in France or the U.K.—are a relatively young type of squash, originally bred in Italy and rising to popularity in the U.S. only around the mid 20th century. These prolific garden favorites are often taken for granted these days, though, and we hope this easy fried zucchini fritter recipe helps show off how special this fruit can truly be.
How To Make Zucchini Fritters
Begin by harvesting all of the zucchini that has taken over your planter boxes, accepting a basketful from a neighbor, or opening your CSA box expecting a rainbow of fruit and vegetables only to find about a million zucchini. Briefly panic-search for that zucchini bread recipe that you made a few years ago. Stop. Remember that you saw a delicious-sounding, parmesan-y, onion-y zucchini fritter recipe on The Modern Proper a while ago and maybe you’ll just give that a try instead. Then:
- Grate the zucchini & the onion into a colander and toss the grated bits with salt. The salt will leach out the water, and once they’ve released a good amount of water—about 10 minutes—use a piece of cheesecloth or a nut bag if you’ve got it to squeeze out the liquid.
- Make a batter! Combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, parmesan cheese, egg, whole milk, pepper, and cumin. Give it a good mix, and then fold in the strained onion & zucchini.
- Fry! By the time you’ve mixed up the batter, the oil should be up to temp! Give it a test by dropping a small bit of batter in and seeing if it fries. When the oil is ready, carefully fry the zucchini fritters, adding them to the oil about ¼ cup of batter at a time. The keywords to remember when frying in oil are slow, steady and careful.
- Dip & eat! When they’ve cooled a bit, dip them in your homemade tzatziki and discover how very lovable fresh zucchini can be.
Tools You’ll Need:
- A hand-held grater, or you can use the grater attachment for your food processor if you’ve got one.
- A nut bag.
- A cast iron skillet for frying.
- A deep-frying thermometer makes life easier, but isn’t a must-have.
- Mixing bowl.
Celebrating Summer's Bounty:
When the air is as soft and warm as it’s ever going to be, and the garden is brimming with ripeness, every meal feels like a small celebration:
Fritters for Dinner!
We’re not saying you’ve got to forego zucchini bread for ever and ever, but we DO think that it’s high time more people made room in their hearts for these Italian-ish (parmesan!), Greek-ish (hello tzatziki!) crispy zucchini fritters. We hope you try them & we hope you love them! And if you do, snap a photo and maybe even a video of the beautiful people that get to eat them! Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!
