Zucchini Fritters with Pepper Sauce

While on vacation two weeks ago I went through at least ten cooking magazines, pulling out recipes and marking pages of things I thought sounded good.  When I got home, I organized the new recipes into my recipe books and promised myself I’d try them.  When I first pulled out a new one last week, I realized how severely lacking in my kitchen I am.  I have a “small” list going of things I now realize I need to do any sort of “gourmet” cooking 🙂  For the following pepper sauce I needed a food processor.  As I still do not own one of these, I used my smoothie blender.  It seemed to work just fine.  These fritters were a spur-of-the-moment thing, as both Karl and I had eaten big lunches and were not very hungry.  Obviously, these are more of a side dish, but we ate them as our main meal.  I loved them and Karl said they were good, but he did not want seconds.  Hmmmm… I started the pepper sauce first and while the peppers were broiling, I began the fritters.

Zucchini Fritters:

3 medium zucchinis, coarsely grated

coarse salt and ground pepper

1 large egg

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Coarsely grate zucchini.  Place in a colander set in the sink and toss with 1 t. salt.  Let sit 10 minutes, then press out as much liquid as possible.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, lightly beat egg.  Then add zucchini, onions, flour and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.

In large skillet, heat the 1/2 cup vegetable oil over medium.  Slowly (as oil is hot and will splatter) drop zucchini balls into oil and gently flatten with a spatula.  Fry until browned, 2-3 minutes per side.  Transfer to paper towel to drain.

Pepper Sauce (Adapted from July 2011 Cooking Light)

4 red bell peppers

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 T. fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 t. ground coriander

1 1/2 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. crushed red pepper

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, discard seeds and insides.  Place bell pepper halves, skin side up, on a baking sheet, flatten with hand.  Broil for 12-15 minutes, or until blackened.  Place in a paper grocery bag and fold to close tightly.  Let stand for 20 minutes.  Peel skins off.  Place red peppers and all other ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Plate your fritters while hot and drizzle with the red pepper sauce.  Enjoy!