Monday, July 12, 2004

Squash Fritters

On the way in to work this morning I was thinking about what to have for dinner and started forming the idea for these fritters. I wanted to use some of the produce I had bought at the farmers market yesterday – specifically the squash. I didn’t have any meat on hand, so I thought I might use eggs in some way. A frittata crossed my mind, but wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. Then I started thinking pan-fried patties with egg and squash and maybe some cilantro and Pecorino cheese (which all just happened to be in my refrigerator).

On the way home tonight I again was thinking about what to have for dinner, totally forgetting that I had been through this already. I settled on tortellini with some cooked vegetables (I apparently have much less ambition at the end of the day!). Fortunately, I recalled my earlier plan a few minutes later.


I used three different colors of squash in my fritters

Squash Fritters

Makes 4 or 5 fritters

3 to 4 cups grated summer squash and/or zucchini (3 or 4 small to medium squash)
2 eggs
2 tbs flour
2 tbs skim milk
2 tbs grated cheese (I used Pecorino, but Parmesan would work equally well)
2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
1 small tomato, chopped
additional cilantro for garnish

Put the grated squash in a large bowl and sprinkle salt over it. Stir well and then turn the squash out into a colander. Place the colander on a plate or in the sink and let the squash drain for 20 to 30 minutes.

Wring the squash out with your hands and then wrap in a double layer of paper towels and press out a little more liquid.

Beat the eggs lightly with a whisk. Add the flour, milk, cheese, cilantro, and pepper and whisk until there are no lumps of flour. Stir in the squash.

Heat a non-stick frying pan with a little olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Using a large spoon, scoop some of the mixture into the pan and then flatten slightly. Repeat with the remaining mixture (I cooked mine in two batches). Cook a few minutes on each side until the fritters are light brown and cooked through.

Garnish with chopped tomato and cilantro.

Hope you enjoy these – I did!


Squash fritter

4 comments:

Cathy said...

Thanks so much! I hope you like them!

Cathy

Reid said...

Hi Cathy,

Love the choice of squash! The fritters look absolutely light and crispy! Do you eat these plain or with some kind of sauce?

Cathy said...

Reid - Thanks! I ate them with plain old tomato on top, just as you see in the photo. Actually, I originally put the tomato on just to make the picture pretty, but it turned out to be the perfect topping. I did the same thing when I ate the leftovers the next night.

Cathy said...

Hi Old Duffer - so glad you stopped by! I'll bet you could still remove some of the liquid by just wringing the grated squash in a towel. I really enjoyed the tomato on top and particularly this time of year when the tomatoes are so good.