As the courgette season slowly comes to an end, I look down at our plants, whose roots look almost tentacle like from us continually picking their fruit – they’ve served us well. In fact, for the past 2 months most of our meals have had some form of courgette in them. So, in honour of this hard-working plant, I will be posting 3 recipes giving you some ideas on what to do if you have a big stash of courgettes. Last year it was aubergines.

Here’s the first one –

Ingredients

2          Courgettes

1          Onion

1          Clove garlic

200g    Feta

Small bunch of Dill (chopped)

Small bunch of Mint (chopped)

Salt and pepper

For the batter

4          Eggs

4 Tbsp            Plain flour

Pepper

Method

1. Grate the courgettes and place in a bowl with a generous sprinkling of salt. Cover and leave for 30 minutes – 1 hour. This is to draw the moisture out of the courgettes.
2. Make the batter by breaking the eggs in a bowl and beating gently with a fork, then sift the flour into the bowl. Using a balloon whisk mix eggs and flour together until the batter gets to a smooth consistency. Cover and put in the fridge.
3. Chop the onion and garlic then fry in a pan with some olive oil.
4. Strain the courgettes in a colander making sure to push all the moisture out of them, you can use the back of a spoon to do this. Now add the courgette to the onion and garlic then fry for 5 minutes to cook through. Set aside to cool.
5. Break the feta up into a bowl and add the chopped herbs to it along with a pinch of pepper.
6. Once courgette mix has cooled put it into the batter along with the feta and herbs, then mix. Now you are ready to fry.
7. Heat up a few tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan. Using a metal dessert spoon, drop a spoonful of mixture into the pan and leave for a minute or so before flipping it over to the other side.
8.  Enjoy as a starter, side or as part of a big mezze feast!

Tips:

*You can keep the fritters warm by placing the fried ones on a plate in the oven on a low heat, until you’re ready to serve.

*Use a plastic fish slice to flip the fritters. The bend in the plastic makes it easier to flip.

*You can also use dried mint, which is what my auntie uses. They seem to use it a lot in Turkey.