Ingredients:

1 lb zucchini, smaller size preferred

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup grated cheese

1 extra large egg

Sparkling water (see below)

Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped mint (or basil)

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

Clean zucchini by washing and drying them well.

Remove ends.

Using a cheese grater, grate zucchini into small strips.

Place grated zucchini in a colander to drain excess moisture.

Place flour, grated cheese, salt, pepper and egg into a bowl.

Begin mixing with fork and slowly add 1/2 cup of sparkling water.

If mixture is too dry, add a bit more sparkling water.

You should have a batter similar in consistency to a muffin batter.

Take the grated zucchini out of the colander, one handful at a time, and squeeze with both hands to remove additional moisture.

Add zucchini to batter. Also add chopped mint, or basil if preferred to mint.

Mix well with fork until you have a smooth texture.

Place about 1/2” of oil in a medium frying pan.

Heat on medium-high until hot (350 to 375 degrees).

You can do a test by carefully placing a small amount of batter into hot oil. If it starts bubbling immediately, it’s ready.

Begin frying the fritters by gently dropping a generous tablespoon of batter into hot oil.

Please be careful of splatter!

Also, try not to overcrowd the pan.

Fry fritters until the bottom side is golden.

Flip them over carefully and allow to do the same on the other side.

When both sides are golden, remove fritters from pan and place on a tray lined with paper towels.

Continue until all batter is gone.

Serve warm as an appetizer or side dish with an optional whipped ricotta dip (recipe on my website).

TIPS:

I prefer using smaller zucchini because they have less of the white soft center and seeds than the big ones do. In fact, you want the “meat” of the zucchini to achieve better results.

Using sparkling water will result in a more light and airy fritter. As I said in the directions, start with 1/2 a cup and go from there. Batter should be smooth and soft but not liquidy.

Do not overcrowd pan! By placing too many clumps of batter in the pan, you will slow down the frying process and fritters will not cook nor color as well as they should be.