Courgette fritters

Courgettes tend to be cooked slightly stewed, typically in a tomato sauce of your spicing: Italian, Indian, middle eastern...

Because they marry so well with all sorts of flavours,  they are very versatiles and can be used in many cuisines but rarely are they the star of the show. 

This recipe is all about them...you will need some courgettes, more courgettes and extra courgettes!

I'm going to write the basic recipe here. Then feel free to add spices to it (I will give you a couple of ideas that I tried). But don't be afraid to go for it, go bananas! 

Courgettes are forgiving so there is little chance that it will taste bad. 

I am also going to write the recipe for 1kg of courgettes. Now this seems like a lot but you'll be surprised by how much is left once you've drained some of the water out of them. So 1kg of courgettes will make about 6 "burger size" patties. Since they take a little while to make I would recommend at least doubling the dose and freezing any extra. I usually start with 2 or 3kg and split the batch to incorporate different spicing, cook the lot and eat them on different days depending on the mood :)

You can also use them in various ways, sandwich the patty between 2 buns for a veggie burger, dunk (hot or cold both delicious) into some yoghurt and mint dip. Make thinner patties, more like pancakes and use like a "pizza base" by adding any tasty toppings. (you can bake in the oven for an extra 5-10 min with your toppings if you need to but any longer might make them a little dry).

You will need:

1 kg of courgettes

2 onions (preferably not red)

2 egg whites

10g of fine salt

Preparation:

1. Wash your courgettes as it is best to keep the skin on. Peel your onion.

2. Grate the whole lot. I hope you have a robot mixer. I don't and grating onion was rather painful! Had to resort to war my ski googles but by then it was too late my eyes kept crying up for 20 min! So either machine grate or wear some airtight googles before starting!

3  Add the salt and mix thouroughly. If you have muselin, pop your grated mixture into it, warp tightly and add a weight to press on it. If like me you don't have any, put your courgettes in a strainer, pop a couple of sheets of kitchen paper on top it and add your weight on top (I used a pan filled with anything heavy I had laying around). Leave for at least 30 min, preferably 1h.

4 . Squeeze the remaining water out of your courgettes. Whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks and slowly add to the courgettes. At this point add your spicing. For a Mediterranean taste I added 1tsp of sumac and 2 tsp of pesto. For an Indian flavour I added 2tsp of turmeric, 1 tsp of ground coriander, 1/2 tsp of dried chillies, 1/4 tsp of cumin, 1 clove (grounded) and a handful of chopped fresh coriandre.

5. Heat your pan on a medium heat with a bit of oil (I use olive oil but any will do) and form patties with your courgettes mixture. When the pan is hot, cook your patties for about 5 min (or until golden) on each side and you are done!