Zucchini Fritters Recipe

This zucchini fritters recipe is perfect if you have a lot of zucchini in your garden (or your neighbor does) or if your just looking for a new way to get your kids to enjoy their vegetables. They are called beignets de courgette in French.

Zucchini Recipes

Are you desperately in search of a solution to what to do with your abundance of summer squash. Or perhaps you are like me and just love these vegetables and trying out new recipes. Either way, you are sure to find a recipe to please in this very complete cookbook: The Classic Zucchini Cookbook: 225 Recipes for All Kinds of Squash.

Here's another cookbook that has a surprising recipe featuring zucchini and chocolate! It's written by Clotilde Dusoulier a young Frenchwoman with a popular food blog. Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen is not only an excellent introduction to some French classics, it also features many of the author's own innovative recipes.

Food Fit for Angels

When we lived in Corsica we would sometimes get take out food from the local traiteur, which is a sort of delicatessen where you will find all sorts of dishes, prepared fresh that day. It was run by a jovial Corsican woman and her daughter who would always exclaim over our band of toddlers, calling them little angels (des petits anges). The boys particularly liked the zucchini fritters she made, so I started calling the fritters angel food. For the longest time those cute little boys thought that zucchini fritters were really called angel food.

What is a Beignet?

If you've heard of beignets, it may be the sort made by the Café de Monde coffee shop in New Orleans. In Louisiana, beignets are square doughnuts usually topped with powdered sugar, and if you're interested in trying this world famous treat, you can now buy a mix to help you.

In France though beignet is a much broader term, referring to any sort of pastry made by coating a fruit, vegetable or meat with batter and deep fat frying it. They can be both sweet and savory. Each region of France has it's own special take on beignets and they are especially popular at Carnaval time in the spring.

This zucchini fritters recipe calls for mixing the vegetables into the dough itself. You can vary the recipe by adding cumin or maybe a pinch of cayenne or 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. These make very satisfying appetizers.

Beignets de Courgette

1 pound zucchini
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
oil for frying

Shred the zucchini using a food processor and put it in a big mixing bowl. Stir in the eggs, garlic, flour and salt and pepper and mix until blended. The batter may look a bit runny, but don't get alarmed. It all holds together once it heats the hot oil.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy skillet. Drop the batter by tablespoons full into the oil and cook until browned - three to four minutes per side. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper towel.

Serve warm. Makes about 20 fritters.

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