Barry's Insanely Delicious Zucchini Fritters

Adapted from a recipe by Barry Kalb.

On a recent trip to Greece, my step-cousin Barry Kalb fell in love with a zucchini fritter, and did his best to recreate the recipe. The only thing that could have made them even better, I thought, was a dab of yogurt sauce, so I took the liberty of adding that. This recipe makes about 14 fritters – amazing little hot apps for five or six people. You can double the recipe if you want more; it'll work just fine.

Ingredients

For the fritters:

1 pound zucchini, grated on the medium holes of a box grater or food processor

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup chopped mixed herbs: dill, mint and parsley; you can also include fennel leaves if you have some

1/2 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Freshly ground black pepper

Flour for dredging

Olive oil for frying

Sprigs of dill or fennel for garnish

For the yogurt sauce:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Finely grated zest of one lemon

Instructions

1. First make the sauce, by combining the yogurt and lemon zest in a small bowl. Cover and set aside in the fridge.

2. Place the grated zucchini in a colander, sprinkle it with the salt, toss to combine, and set it in the sink for an hour. Use your hands to squeeze as much liquid out of the zucchini as possible, and put it in a medium bowl, with the egg, herbs, cumin, feta, bread crumbs and six or seven generous grindings of black pepper. Stir to combine thoroughly.  

3. Form the mixture into round fritters about 2 inches in diameter, and dredge them lightly with flour.

3. Pour about 1/2 inch of oil into a large frying pan and heat it over high heat until it is very hot but not smoking; turn heat down to medium-high. Fry the fritters until they are golden-brown on both sides. As they are done cooking, transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. 

4. Top each fritter with a teaspoonful or so of yogurt sauce and a sprig of dill or fennel and serve immediately.