When my daughter Imogen was young(er) she would run a million miles if she could see anything green in her food. I had any number of tricks to ‘hide’ spinach and zucchini but never thought that calling it something other than what it was would work. Hence these Swamp Cheese Fritters.
I could never really understand why cheese from a swamp was more appealing that zucchini but I’m not sure anyone understands the mind of a 10 year old. Of course it might have a lot to do with the fact that the actual cheese in this overcomes any reservations about the ‘green bits’.
This is a classic choux pastry with cheese and zucchini. They make a very light and delicious alternative to most zucchini fritter recipes and are yummy straight out of the oven. You might want to look up French gougères for their inspiration. Note that while they will puff up in the oven, unless you really crisp up the outside (and possibly overcook them) they will deflate slightly as they cool. They still taste great!
This recipe makes around 24 fritters
Ingredients
- 125g butter cubed
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup plain flour, sifted
- 4 eggs, whisked
- 4 small zucchini, grated
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
- Salt & ground black pepper
How to make them
- Pre-heat the over to 190ºF
- Prepare 2 trays with baking paper and a light spray of oil
- Place butter and water in a medium saucepan over medium high heat
- Cook, stirring constantly for 7 minutes or until buttoner melts. Cover and bring to the boil. remove from the heat, add flour (in one batch) and stir quickly until mixture forms a ball. Transfer to a large mixing bowl
- Using electric hand-beater (or a large wooden spoon and muscles) add eggs slowly, beating well after each addition. It might seem like the eggs won’t mix in but persist and they will
- Squeeze the excess moisture from the zucchini. Add zucchini, Parmesan, salt and pepper (to taste) to the butter and egg mixture. Stir well to combine
- Take ‘heaped’ tablespoons of mixture and place on a baking tray – not too close together
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden