If you’ve ever planted a zucchini plant in your garden you know what happens — you end up with zucchini for days! You can make zucchini bread, muffins, saute it, grill it, but my favorite is to fry it up as fritters. Creamy, and mild, and just right to soak up some tangy spicy sauce.
Fritters were some of my favorite foods growing up. My Grandmother made celery fritters, apple fritters and my favorite zucchini. We used to go to this restaurant in my home town and one of my favorite things to order were the fried zucchini fingers served with an abundance of ranch dressing. I’ve replaced the ranch with a grown-up fiery aioli, and dress it all up with some perfectly ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes, and a sprinkle of grated egg.
Typically when I make mayonnaise/aioli I prefer to do it by hand, the texture comes out silkier in my opinion. But, for this recipe, the chilies need the food processor to make them smooth and incorporate a creamy texture, and if I am going to get my food processor dirty I may as well go the whole mile! The ending consistency should be silky and more like a thick sauce than a stiff mayonnaise, bright acidity, a hit of garlic, and spike with that chili heat. Hatch chilies, zucchini, and tomatoes all come to the market at the same time starting in August. If you are heat sensitive you can definitely sub a mild hatch chili. If you can’t find hatch chilies Anaheim’s are a great substitute, or for a smoky finish go for the poblano.
Peak of the season sweet, vine-ripened cherry tomatoes tossed sweet onions and a sprinkling of grated medium-boiled egg offer the cooling and fresh pop.
This is a simple fritter batter, lighten just a bit from my grandmother’s version by reducing the flour and milk, so the batter ends up being more crepe-like than a pancake. Both are equally delicious, but I like the simple, light texture of more zucchini to batter ratio. Make sure to let the grated zucchini sit with a sprinkling of salt to draw out the extra moisture, and squeeze out as much as possible. Zucchini has a lot of water and will make your batter a liquid mess.
Fry these up in a bit of oil in batches, taking care not to crowd the fritters, just like you would pancakes. Enjoy them hot, or keep warm in a 170-degree oven until ready to serve.
Zucchini Fritter with Hot Hatch Chili Aioli
Course: Anyday Dinner, Lunch, Veg ForwardCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes20
minutesZucchini fritters that are light and airy with a fiery aioli and cooling tomato salad. The perfect summertime lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
- Hot Hatch Chili Aioli
3 Hot Hatch Chilies
1 egg yolk
1 medium garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup avocado oil or other neutral oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp champagne vinegar
pinch kosher salt
- Tomato Onion Salad
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 sweet onion, sliced thinly
1 Tablespoon champagne vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt like Maldon
Cracked black pepper
1 medium-boiled egg, grated on the small holes of a box grater
Mint for garnish
- Zucchini Fritters
4 cups grated zucchini, about 1 large or 2 medium zucchini’s
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for garnish
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon whole milk
Avocado oil for frying
Directions
- Hot Hatch Chili Aioli
- Over high heat on a grill, an open gas burner or under a broiler in your oven, char the whole chilies until blackened and blistered on all sides. Remove from heat and set aside for 10-15 minutes until cool to touch. Remove the charred skins, stems, and seeds from inside. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a small food processor, place the egg yolk, minced garlic clove, and lemon juice, process for a minute until light and fluffy. Slowly, drizzle in the oils through the feed tube. The aioli should be almost stiff and mayonnaise-like. Add the reserved chilies, champagne vinegar, and salt. Process until smooth. The final consistency should be thinner mayonnaise, more like a thick sauce. Adjust the seasoning and consistency with a bit more lemon juice or a splash of water if needed.
- Tomato Onion Salad
- Just before serving, place the halved tomatoes, and sliced onions in a bowl. Dress with vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside until ready to serve. For serving, sprinkle with the grated medium-boiled egg and top with mint leaves.
- Zucchini Fritters
- Place the grated zucchini in a strainer set in a bowl. Sprinkle with a heavy pinch of the salt, and toss to coat. Let the zucchini sit for 15-20 minutes to remove as much water as possible.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining salt, flour, corn starch, oregano, Romano, eggs, and milk. Mix to combine. The mixture will be fairly thick.
- Squeeze out as much of the remaining water from the zucchini, and add the drained zucchini to the batter. Fold in the zucchini.
- Place a heavy bottom skillet over medium heat and coat with a generous amount of oil, about 1/8-1/4 inch deep. When the oil is hot and starts to shimmer drop spoonfuls of zucchini batter, about 2 Tablespoons. I use a small cookie scoop so all my fritters are the same size. Gently press down the fritter so it has an even thickness throughout. Do not crowd the fritters in the an. Cook until golden brown on the first side, 3-4 minutes, flip over a brown on the second side, another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat to a cooling rack to drain and sprinkle with flaky salt and a few more shavings of Romano. Serve immediately with the Hot Hatch Chili Aioli and the Tomato Onion Salad.
