kolokithokeftedes : greek feta & zucchini fritters ‘my new way’

• wash & coarsely grate the zucchini (about 8 heaping cups), toss with the salt, place in a cheesecloth over a colander, let sit for 15 minutes then squeeze tightly to remove the water and reduce the total weight by half to 500 grams (about 4 heaping cups of zucchini + 3 cups green liquid)
• place the grated zucchini in a large mixing bowl, add the chopped herbs, ground pepper and the rest of the salt and the beaten eggs, mix well and then add the flour and breadcrumbs and mix well (it will seem sticky but do not add more flour nor breadcrumbs), add the crumbled feta cheese (only one half of the total cheese) stir well and refrigerate the mix for 1 hour until firmer
• cut the remaining feta cheese into flatter blocks for the filling in the middle of each patty and refrigerate too

note : before making the patties with the firmed-up dough, several possibilities exist, mixing everything together and rolling smaller bite-sized versions by using your palms (about 3,5 cm x 2 cm each) and frying them directly or the second option for making my versions which are larger (6 cm x 2 cm) but you only use 1/2 of the crumbled feta in the batter and you create a feta filling right in the middle of each patty with the remaining 1/2 of the feta, cut into smaller blocks, you bake them first and then fry them … you decide !

• when the dough is firm, use 1  large or 2 silicone molds (each mold has 8 cavities measuring 6 cm in diameter and 4 cm high), brush with olive oil

note : sometimes some zucchinis are hard & dry, if you feel the batter is too dry, add an extra egg and/or some olive oil in the batter …

• separate the batter into 24 balls (about 45 grams or 3 tbsp each), place 12 balls in the 12 mold cavities, press down to flatten, add the cubed feta cheese in the middle and cover with the other half or 12 balls of batter and flatten again (the large molds will be half-filled, brush the top of each with olive oil and reserve in the refrigerator while the oven preheats

note : if you make the smaller ball versions in the smaller molds the batter will be almost all the way to the top, or you can roll them with your hands, either way each will measure about 3,5 cm x 2 cm and weigh about 25 grams for 36 balls/patties …

• preheat oven to 200°C
• bake the patties inside the silicone molds for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden and firm, then remove, let cool and unmold each
• dredge each patty in the flour and breadcrumbs mix on all sides until well coated and set aside
• pour olive oil into a non-stick frying pan (about 1 cm deep minimum), heat up the olive oil to high heat (until a few drops of water sizzle in the hot oil) and fry 4-6 large patties at the same time (or 12 smaller patties), 2 minutes on each side (lower heat if they brown too fast) and then reserve the fried patties in a warm oven (about 150°C) until all are fried and ready
• serve warm as a starter or an appetizer with nothing except for a glass of ouzo and/or maybe  with some tzatziki sauce on the side (see my recipe here too).