Fried (Gasp!) Zucchini Patties

But at least I'm frying a VEGETABLE. Not that it makes it healthy....but these patties are just SO good. Earlier this spring, I had dinner at a family friend's house and the host (Mariana) served wonderful zucchini patties for dessert with powdered sugar. They were amazing! The ones below, that I made for this entry, are savory--not sweet. But, eventually, I still plan on attempting the sweeter version of these patties (that did not include any sugar in the composition).

Serve these savory patties with your favorite dipping sauce--I imagine they'd be great with marinara sauce or Ranch (the patties below are pictured alonside a zesty Ranch).

ZUCCHINI PATTIES

3 medium zucchini
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 very small onion (or half a medium onion), diced
1-1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
½ cup Asiago cheese (or Parmesan/Romano)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Olive oil

Wash and cut the end off of the zucchini--do not peel. Shred the zucchini using the large holes of a cheese grater. Squeeze the shredded zucchini inside of a clean towel until you’ve removed as much liquid as possible. Or, alternately, you can put the shredded zucchini on several paper towels, lay more paper towels on top and pat down gently (repeat a couple times).

 Place shredded zucchini into a medium sized bowl. Add garlic, onion, breadcrumbs, cheese (shredded), eggs, salt and pepper. Stir with a fork until well mixed.

Heat olive oil (about ¼ inch deep in bottom of skillet) to a medium heat (I used a bit less and it turned out ok). When the oil is hot enough drop a glob of zucchini batter into the skillet and flatten it a bit.

After about two minutes, turn the cakes over ( they should be a nice shade of golden-brown) and cook on the other side until done (about 2-3 minutes).

Place on paper towels (to absorb any oil). Serve with the dipping sauce of your choice and enjoy!

Serves 6.