Zucchini fritters with balsamic tomato salsa

Lilly sent me a recipe for zucchini fritters a while ago, and I just happened to have a bunch of zucchinis laying around that I needed to use quickly - so thanks to her for the recipe!

1/2 C shredded zucchini/summer squash
1/3 C fresh bread crumbs (roughly, depending on how much zucchini
moisture you need to sop up)
1 egg
1 diced ancho pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
tomato-based salsa of your choice for garnish

- Shred the zucchini on the big holes on a box grater. Add a pinch of salt to the shredded zucchini to help draw out the water. Wrap the zucchini in a linen-style towel or napkin (you know, smooth cloth) or cheesecloth. Squeeze out as much water as you can from the bundle. Let it sit for an hour wrapped and squeeze again.

- Unwrap the zucchini and dump it into a bowl. Beat egg lightly in a separate bowl. Dump the egg or egg substitute into the zucchini bowl along with the cheese, diced pepper, a pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper. Mix well. Add freshly made breadcrumbs and mix until the mixture clumps up enough to roll into small balls.

- Heat enough oil in a small skillet to cover the bottom 1/4" deep. When the oil is hot and a bit of zucchini sizzles when placed in it, you are ready to begin frying the fritters.

- Take 1/4 cup of the zucchini mix and lower it slowly into the oil. I packed a 1/4 cup measure with mix, and then inverted it on the spatula I was using to slide it into the oil, and then squished the fritter to be down with the spatula so the crown of it was just peeking out over the oil.

- Fry the fritter until the bottom is browned. The edges should be a rich brown; the middle may still be pale. Flip the fritter carefully (so the oil, if it splashes, will splash away from you), and fry the second side until it's also browned. Remove to a plate covered with paper towels and blot to remove some of the oil.

- Let the oil come back up to temperature and repeat with the rest of the mix.

- While frying, don't let the oil start to smoke. If it does, turn the heat down a little until the oil is back to being hot, but is not smoking.

- When you are done, take a couple big spoonfuls of your favorite salsa and spread them across the middle of the plate. Lay the fritters on the salsa and serve. The salsa should be room temperature or cool and the fritters hot.


Balsamic tomato salsa
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 ancho pepper, diced
1/4 of an onion, diced
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

- Combine all in a saucepan and cook until balsamic vinegar is reduced to the desired consistency.

NOTE: Qualifies for the One Local Summer challenge!

tomatoes, Linvilla Orchard [10 miles]
peppers, my garden [0 miles]
onion, Linvilla Orchard [10 miles]
zucchini, Linvilla Orchard and my garden [10 miles and 0 miles]
bread crumbs, made from stale Le Bus bread [10 miles]
egg, Westfield Egg Farm [60 miles]