You guys, these corn, zucchini, Parmesan fritters are the most delicious and exciting thing that has come out of my kitchen this summer. After a major recipe fail that happened a few days earlier, I am so happy that I can share something that is making me, and hopefully you, really excited. At the beginning of the week, I sat down with my pot of mint tea and some homemade life-changing bread, to brainstorm a recipe. I stumbled across a fresh zucchini pasta that looked pretty incredible. I picked up a few ingredients from the store, used my fancy julienne peeler to slice up a few zucchini, and I made this big bowl of fresh summer pasta. I hated it. There were too many flavors, the dressing was all off, etc. It was a disaster. I was back to square one.
I've been into corn in a major way this summer. Corn on the cob, corn in salads, in black bean bowls. I had a few zucchinis left from my attempt at the pasta recipe, so I decided to put them to good use in this mind-blowing fritter recipe. I love fresh and simple summer foods. Nothing to heavy, easy to prepare. I often find myself out in the garden or doing some sort of home reno on the weekends, and the thought of breaking free to cook up something elaborate and fancy just doesn't appeal to me. A quick and easy recipe, something healthy and filling (in a good way), paired well with a glass of white wine is how we do things around here.
For this recipe, you'll need some sort of tool to get the zucchini into fine strips. If you've got a julienne peeler bonus, if not a cheese grater or food processor will do the trick. You want to grate the zucchini, sprinkle with salt, and let sit. Then you will squeeze out any excess water preventing the fritters from becoming soggy (this is an important step). Once all of the ingredients are combined into a thick batter, fry the fritters for a couple of minutes on each side in a generous serving of butter. You want the outside nice and crispy, brown in color. I squeezed a little lemon juice on mine and served with a generous dollop of sour cream and fresh cut chives from the garden. Seriously, I am making these again tonight. And then I am going to sit down in front of the tv and watch Orphan Black. with a glass of wine. and maybe some ice cream for dessert. Who am I kidding, definitely some ice cream for dessert.
ZUCCHINI AND CORN PARMESAN FRITTERS
makes 6 large or 12 small fritters
INGREDIENTS
2 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 tsp salt, plus more for seasoning
3 tbsp butter, unsalted or salted
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cobs corn, kernels removed or 1 1/2 cups
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 cup milk, low fat or whole
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
garnishes: sour cream, chives, chopped, and lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
Place the grated zucchini in a bowl and toss with 1/2 tsp salt. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze the zucchini with your hands to ring out any excess water.
In a frying pan, fry the onions with 1 tbsp of butter on low-medium heat, until the onions are translucent.
Add the garlic and corn kernels and cook until soft or until the garlic starts to brown. Remove from the heat. You can reuse the frying pan to fry the fritters.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the egg and milk. Combine with a wire whisk. Add the corn mixture, the zucchini, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
Add a tbsp of butter to the frying pan. When the butter is sizzling, ladle in 3 - 4, 1/4 or 1/2 cup scoops of the mixture. Fry on each side for a couple of minutes until golden brown. It is important to have the frying pan at a medium hotness, so that you can get that nice crisp brownness on the outside of the fritters. Before frying the second batch, add a tbsp of butter to the pan.
Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream, fresh chives, and fresh squeezed lemon juice. Can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days and reheated in the oven or frying pan before eating.
