Zucchini and feta fritters

Heading into summer I’m always on the lookout for fun, fast and fresh recipes that don’t sit heavily on the tummy. This is one that I came across and adapted to my liking. I think zucchini is one of the maligned vegetables. I myself have been guilty of using it as a ‘filler’ in curries and stir fries. It’s just a little bit tasteless and too easily overcooked that you can’t help but think ‘why would I bother?’

But actually, you’d be wrong. Zucchinis are great at soaking up flavours and simply and carefully cooked, they’re a real asset to your meal. Much overlooked are their creamy texture and so are great in soups as well as in the fritters below. They take very little cooking but yet, the end result is full of flavour with a lovely light consistency.

You can make all sorts of substitutions in this recipe depending on your taste and what’s available. I personally love dill for its freshness and the zing it gives to the fritters, but you can also use mint for a classic combo. Red onion can be exchanged for spring onions for a more subtle flavour. In the version below I added tinned sweet corn because I had some leftover from another dish, but feel free to leave them out entirely. I also like to serve the fritters with some short cut bacon as the saltiness goes really well with the creaminess of the yoghurt and fritters. But however you make them I hope they will give you more ideas about how to incorporate more zucchinis in your cooking!

3 medium zucchini
1/2 cup sweet corn (tinned or frozen is fine)
1 red onion, cut thinly into half moons
100g crumbled feta
half a bunch of dill, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
3–4 heaped tbsp plain flour
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tbsp olive oil

Herbed yoghurt

1 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
half a bunch of dill, finely chopped (the other half)
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
salt to taste

Makes 12 fritters

1. Coarsely grate the zucchini onto a clean tea towel. I use a new dish cloth (the blue/green ones with perforations) to do this as I don’t want to stain my tea towels green and they’re easy to clean afterwards. Gather in the edges and squeeze out all the liquid from the zucchinis. Make sure you do this well otherwise your fritters will be soggy. Place the zucchini into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the spring onions, feta, dill, eggs, yoghurt, flour and seasoning and mix well. You don’t want the mixture to be too wet, so add more flour if you need to.

3. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick frypan. When hot, spoon in heaped tablespoons of the mixture, flattening them to about 1 cm thickness. Cook each side for about 2 mins or until golden brown. Remove from pan and add more oil. Keep fritters warm while you cook the remaining batter.

4. To make the herbed yoghurt, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl  and serve with fritters.