(Recipe can be found on the Smitten Kitchen site here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
All that is needed for the fritters are: Canola Oil (for frying), All-Purpose Flour, 1 pound of zucchini (shredded), Baking Powder, Freshly Ground Pepper, Kosher Salt, 1 Egg, and 2 Scallions.
Begin by preheating the oven to 200 degrees. I set aside a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat, so that it would be waiting on me. Then I chopped off the ends of the zucchini.
Using the shredding blade for my food processor, I ran all of the zucchini through it…
…until they were all in uniform strands. This was a super fast method of shredding the zucchini!
I transferred the zucchini to a large bowl and combined it with 1 teaspoon of salt. Once combined, I set the bowl aside for 10 minutes.
During this 10 minute time frame, I chopped two scallions.
Once the zucchini had sat for 10 minutes, I found the salt had drawn out a lot of the water from the zucchini strands. So I used a paper towel and squeezed out the water from the zucchini a small amount at a time and then transferred it back to the bowl. You’ll find that a large amount of water gets removed.
In a small bowl I combined 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and set it aside.
To the zucchini I added about 1/4 teaspoon of salt, ground pepper to taste, scallions, and 1 egg lightly beaten.
Once the zucchini mixture was combined, I added the flour and baking powder.
Here is the finished batter after combining the wet and dry ingredients. All that’s left to do is fry them up!
I heated 2 Tablespoons of canola oil (or whatever oil you prefer) over medium heat. Once it was shimmering, it was time to add the fritters.
Using a large spoon, I formed the fritters and cooked about three at a time for 3-4 minutes on one side or until lightly brown.
I then flipped the fritters and fried them an additional 2-3 minutes. I lined a plate with a couple of paper towel sheets and let the finished fritters drain off some oil. Then they were transferred to the cookie sheet and placed in the oven.
While the fritters cooked, I took this time to make the sour cream topping. All that is needed is salt, a lemon, 8 oz. sour cream and one garlic clove.
I placed the sour cream and salt in the bowl, then zested a lemon until I had about 1/4 teaspoon and then juiced the lemon (I only needed about half a lemon). Finally I minced the garlic and added it to the mixture.
Then I stirred everything together and set it aside until I was ready to eat.
Once the fritters finished frying (the recipe made about 8 for me), I removed the others from the oven and served them up. They were fabulous topped with this lemon sour cream topping and I’m pretty sure I inhaled them they were so good! Enjoy!
Zucchini Fritters
(Adapted a bit from Simply Recipes)
Yield: About 10 2 1/2 inch fritters
Fritter Ingredients:
1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
1 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus extra to taste
2 scallions, split lengthwise and sliced thin
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying
Topping Ingredients:
To serve (optional)
1 cup sour cream or plain, full-fat yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
Pinches of salt
1 small minced or crushed clove of garlic
Preparation Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Have a baking sheet ready.
2. Trim ends off zucchini and grate them either on the large holes of a box grater or, if you have one, using the shredding blade of a food processor. The latter is my favorite as I’m convinced it creates the coarsest and most rope-like strands and frankly, I like my fritters to look like mops.
3. In a large bowl, toss zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Wring out the zucchini in one of the following ways: pressing it against the holes of a colander with a wooden spoon to extract the water, squeezing out small handfuls at a tim
e, or wrapping it up in a clean dishtowel or piece of cheese cloth and wringing away. You’ll be shocked (I was!) by the amount of liquid you’ll lose, but this is a good thing as it will save the fritters from sogginess.
4. Return deflated mass of zucchini shreds to bowl. Taste and if you think it could benefit from more salt (most rinses down the drain), add a little bit more; we found 1/4 teaspoon more just right. Stir in scallions, egg and some freshly ground black pepper. In a tiny dish, stir together flour and baking powder, then stir the mixture into the zucchini batter.
5. In a large heavy skillet — cast iron is dreamy here — heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Drop small bunches of the zucchini mixture onto the skillet only a few at a time so they don’t become crowded and lightly nudge them flatter with the back of your spatula. Cook the latkes over moderately high heat until the edges underneath are golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. If you find this happening too quickly, reduce the heat to medium. Flip the fritters and fry them on the other side until browned underneath again, about 2 to 3 minutes more. Drain briefly on paper towels then transfer to baking sheet and then into the warm oven until neede. Repeat process, keeping the pan well-oiled, with remaining batter. I like to make sure that the fritters have at least 10 minutes in the oven to finish setting and getting extra crisp.
6. For the topping, if using, stir together the sour cream, lemon juice, zest, salt and garlic and adjust the flavors to your taste. Dollop on each fritter before serving. These fritters are also delicious with a poached or fried egg on top, trust me.
Do ahead: These fritters keep well, either chilled in the fridge for the better part of a week and or frozen in a well-sealed package for months. When you’re ready to use them, simply spread them out on a tray in a 325 degree oven until they’re hot and crisp again.
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