Double Take: Zucchini, Ham, Basil, and Ricotta Fritters

Zucchini, Ham, Basil, and Ricotta Fritter

Wow. Tabitha and I got to cook together again! Yippee. Bender and I are settled in Winston-Salem and starting back to work and “normal life.” Tabitha and I busted out two items, and we'll be showcasing one of them today: Zucchini, Ham, Basil, and Ricotta Fritters.

The original recipe called for slicing the zucchini into long, thin strips. We opted for a medium dice. If you prefer your zucchini to disappear a bit more, go ahead and shred it. Your cheese grater will thank you for the use. 

How to flip? Very carefully! Slide it out onto a plate, invert the pan
over the  plate, and flip as quickly as you can!

Zucchini, Ham, Basil and Ricotta Fritters
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, original source: Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 29

Ingredients:

1 cup self-rising flour, sifted
2 eggs
1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
½ cup fresh ricotta cheese
¼ cup torn basil leaves
4 ounces ham, cut into small chunks
1 zucchini (courgette), cut into long, thin strips (I recommend shredding it)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil for shallow frying, divided

Method:

Place the flour eggs, butter, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Fold through the ricotta, basil, ham and zucchini. Place two tablespoon of the oil in a small frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add half of the mixture to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes each side or until bubbles appear on the surface. Set aside.

Add another two tablespoons of the oil and repeat with the remaining batter. Cut into wedges to serve. Serves (at least) 2. If you are serving something else with it, it will easily serve 4.

THOUGHTS:

Meh. It was fine. I wasn't expecting something quite so doughy. I don't know why, but I had potato pancakes in mind. Thus, these did not meet my expectations. I enjoyed the big chunks of zucchini and actually didn't think there was too much of it, unlike my co-tasters. I had hoped to taste more of the ricotta, but it just completely disappeared in the fritter.

We made one batch with roasted garlic (4 cloves in the half batch) and one batch without. I preferred the no garlic batch (I know, crazy!), but Tabitha and Bender preferred the batch with garlic. I ate my leftovers cold today and they were fine, just not great.

While I can't give a glowing recommendation for this recipe, there is nothing bad about it. It's just not for me. So, if you like zucchini fritters that have a biscuit feel to them, go for these!

VERDICT:

It's-not-bad-just-not-to-my-taste: 1 vote

The-zucchini-overpowers-everything-else: 1 vote

To see Tabitha's take on Zucchini, Ham, Basil, and Ricotta Fritters, head on over to Double the Garlic!