Zucchini Patties



Kolokithokeftedes - Basically Greek for Zucchini Meatballs - are one of my favourite things. In fact, would it not be for the mess I make everytime I get around to making them, I would probably eat them every week. It's not that it requires sooo many bowls or tools or anything like that... you know, I'm not really sure what it is. But quite honestly, I do have a tendancy to turn a perfectly clean kitchen into what looks like a crime scene in about 5 minutes. What can I say, my brain is way more artistic than it is organized.

Seriously, this is one of my best recipes. I've been making these for years. I have even made a few batches ahead of time at Christmas and reheated them in the oven upon arrival. Everyone seems to love them, and I have passed on the recipe to many family members, especially my mom.

The recipe comes from my trusty old Greek cookbook, called Greek With Gusto, by Nicholas and Julie Roukes. You can tell I use it alot because it's covered in.... recipe stuff...



Anyway, here we go, the ingredients:

3 cups grated zucchini
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (I prefer flat leaf)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
3 tbsp crumbled feta, parmesan, or kasseri cheese
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
flour for dredging

After you grate up the zucchini, like this, you need to wrap it in cheesecloth (I use a bunch of papertowels, actually) and really squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini. I have forgotten to do this once or twice, and the mixture ends up obviously watery, but worse not really sticking together. You so don't want that.

Combine everything in the bowl. As for the cheese, I sorta go with whatever I have on hand. Kassari is a mild cheese, the one you may have seen in restaurants used for Saganaki, or fried cheese.

Anyway, so form the patties. I uaully make them like a mini hamburger or potato latka sort of shape. You can also make them into a meatball shape, which is cute for serving. The book also says you could use them for a veggie burger, though there is not a ton of protein in them. You need to dredge the mixture in flour. Years ago when I first read this recipe, I had to guess a little at what that meant. Basically you coat the zucchini patty lightly by dipping one side and then the other in the flour, and then sorta shake it off in your hand by passing it back and forth from one hand to another. At least, that's the way I do it.

So heat up your pan to medium-ish. I must confess I always end up going up and down with the temp on this recipe. But you'll know if it's sizzling away a little too much, like anything else. They tell you to use 2 tbsp of olive oil. I definitely might start with that, but usually end up cooking this in batches so probably use that much per however many batches I make.  Flip em, and above you can see what I consider to be the idea colour.

And here's what they end up looking like. I was short on breadcrumbs that day and just sort of tried to alter things accordingly, which meant they didn't stick together as much as usual. I ALWAYS serve these with tzatziki (the best part of any Greek meal in my books), but if you don't have any, they are also good with sour cream.

I hope you enjoy my recipe. I know I sure love it.

Have a great weekend!