The fritters are a wonderfully crunchy, savoury bite to contrast the freshness and acidity coming from the shaved zucchini salad. Complementary together, the baked zucchini themselves are so moreish and make such an excellent snack you may want to make plenty of extras!
Preparation time 20minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
Serves 2-3 people
INGREDIENTS 2 medium to large zucchini 1 lemon 40g grated Parmigiano-Regiano 2-3 tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs 6 black olives 2 sprigs of mint Extra virgin olive oil, salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed EQUIPMENT Chopping board and knife Medium sized pot Rubber spatula or wooden spoon Baking tray lined with baking paper Mixing bowl Tray for breading zucchini
METHOD
1. Preheat an oven to 180C. Slice 1 of the zucchini into 1cm thick disks and set aside. Season lightly with salt. Prepare a tray with a combination of the panko breadcrumbs and grated parmesan, season with a pinch of salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper.
2. Dredge the zucchini slices in the breadcrumb and cheese mixture and arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Top with a little bit extra of the parmesan and panko mixture.
If you have any leftover crumb, bake it separately on a lined baking sheet at 160C until it is golden brown and use this for a delicious crunchy topping for pasta dishes.
3. Place into the oven and bake until the exterior of the disks are a beautiful golden brown. Roughly 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. While these are cooking, slice your zucchini into thin strips either by using a rotary mandolin, vegetable spiral slicer or julienne peeler. If you have none of this relatively niche cookware you can achieve similar results using a vegetable peeler.
5. Cut the top and bottom off the zucchini and lay it flat on your chopping board. Shave long ribbons from the top to the bottom of the zucchini and lay them on top of each other.
6. Shave down to the seeds and turn the zucchini over to shave the other side. Repeat the process on all sides and discard the core.
7. Arrange your stacked ribbons and using a sharp knife carefully slice them into thin strips.
8. Make a vinaigrette by zesting half of the lemon and add it to a jar, squeeze half the juice from the lemon into the jar and add a pinch of salt and several twists of freshly ground black pepper. Top up the jar with 3 times as much extra virgin olive oil as you have lemon juice and set aside. Close the jar and shake to combine when ready to use.
9. On a chopping board push your palm against the olives to remove the stone if necessary, discard the stone and chop each olive in 4-6 smaller pieces. Finely slice the mint leaves and add both the olives and the mint to the bowl of zucchini. Shake and add vinaigrette, one tablespoon at a time until the zucchini is seasoned to your liking, adding additional salt if necessary.
10. Once your salad is dressed, arrange it on a plate and top with the zucchini fritters fresh out of the oven.