did you grow zucchini this year? i did and it was out of control.
zucchini tends to take up a lot of space in a garden (i didn’t realize that). the leaves can grow to be the size of your head. the root spreads out and literally can be about 2-3 feet long. although we harvested a good amount of zucchini this year we had to cut it down mid summer. i should also mention that by that mid summer point, my tomatoes started to shade the main zucchini root which then started to rot. it wasn’t pretty (nor were the mushrooms growing out of it).
i started to buy zucchini at the market. not much, 1 a week sometimes 2, i love zucchini. most of the time i forgot about it and i ended up throwing it in my compost pile. sometimes it ended up in sauce or on top of a salad. last week i was craving fried zucchini. one of my favorites.
i decided to do something different however. pancakes. i took a combination of a couple different recipes to create something more our speed, plus, i added heat (of course). if you have extra zucchini laying around or planning on picking some up at the market this is the way to go. the addition of the yogurt sauce complimented and brought out all of the flavors i used in the pancakes.
zucchini pancakes with yogurt sauce
- 1 6oz container of yogurt
- 1 tbl chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbl chopped fresh parsley
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- pinch of salt and pepper
- 1 scallion chopped
- 1 chili pepper (optional) chopped
- mix all in a bowl and set in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour.
for the pancakes:
- 2 large zucchinis grated
- 1 tbl dill chopped
- 1 tbl parsley chopped
- 1 chili pepper (optional)
- 3 scallions
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbl flour
- pinch of salt and pepper
- in a bowl, whisk eggs. add chopped herbs, scallions, pepper, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- after about 5 minutes, take all that zucchini in your hands and squeeze out all the liquid. using your hands is faster and not as messy as you would think, plus less to clean up if you were to use a cheese cloth or dish towel.
- add zucchini to bowl and mix. add flour, mix again.
- in a frying pan, heat up oil, enough to cover half of a pancake, about 1/4″ up. spoon pancake mixture into oil and fry, about 3 minutes on each side.
this batter makes nice fluffy pancakes. since i was frying in batches to keep warm i placed on a baking sheet and placed in the oven on a low temperature.
to serve, place on a plate, drizzle on yogurt sauce and add some salad. it makes a nice light dinner, plus, you get to use all that zucchini laying around.
Oh, perfect perfect perfect! I bought zucchini yesterday without realizing that we still have some in the fridge from last week.
Thanks, Mer, for the perfect dinner idea tonight.
hi food yenta, the zucchini looks so appetizing- love the look of the pancakes- great idea here