Too many courgettes? What about courgette fritters?

If like me you planted too many courgette or zucchini plants in your Spring gardening fever, and by too many I mean more than one plant, then you too are knee deep in courgettes. In fact I am so overwhelmed by the relentless succession of courgettes that many of these green and yellow gourds go unpicked for too long and turn into marrows. These big fellas are not as tasty or crunchy as their little companions and so I will make some marrow chutney from these later. But meantime I have been finding ways to use up the medium sized courgettes.

Courgettes come in many shapes and sizes

So I was thinking back to the delicious courgette/zucchini fritters that we have eaten many times as a starter or ‘meze’ in Turkey. If you have been lucky enough to visit Turkey, or have eaten in a Turkish restaurant, then you will be familiar with the concept of Turkish mezes. These are an assortment of appetisers, both hot and cold, that are intended to be ordered for sharing around the table. Typically in the more traditional Turkish restaurants you will be brought into the kitchen to choose from that day’s mouth-watering meze display. Courgettes/zucchini figure quite strongly in Turkish mezes, and I particularly like the Turkish version of courgette fritters or “kabak mücveri”.

These are simply fritters or pancakes that contain shredded courgettes, some white cheese such as Fėta if you fancy, and some fresh chopped spring onion, parsley, mint and any other herb you like. I have been making large batches of these, tweaking the recipe as I go. They are very easy to make, but as with all pancake-making sessions in our house I do get tired standing over the frying pan. So maybe small batches and often is the way to go!

Serve with a garlic yoghurt dip

RECIPE
1 kg of courgette/zucchini
2 medium sized onions
125 g of plain flour
2 eggs
100 g crumbled white cheese such as Fêta (optional)
A bunch of chopped fresh herbs – parsley, mint or dill
Salt & pepper
I tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
Sunflower oil for frying

METHOD

1. Peel and roughly grate the courgette. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt. Leave aside for 10 mins to extract the liquid and then put into a colander to drain.
2. Chop the onion fairly finely, heat a little rapeseed/olive oil in a pan and fry the onion gently for a few minutes to soften.
3. Drain as much liquid as you can from the courgette by squeezing it out one handful at a time or by pressing it downward in the colander using a potato masher. Add it to the onion and fry gently for about 3-4 minutes.
4. Pour the courgette & onion mixture into a mixing bowl and let it cool for a bit. Then add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
5. In a large frying pan or wok heat around 1/2 inch of sunflower oil. Gently spoon out the mixture in level tablespoons to form small patties and gently flatten the tops. Fry for around 2-3 mins on each side. Rest on several sheets of kitchen roll to absorb any excess oil.
6. Serve as a vegetable accompaniment or as a starter. In Turkey this would be served with a garlicky yoghurt dip.