zucchini burgers on a plate

This zucchini burger recipe comes from a grandmother (yaya) in a Cretan village. It differs slightly from the courgette patties recipe already linked on this site. Originally, this version called for pumpkin rather than zucchini, but it is so good with zucchini that I recommend it that way. You can also try it with pumpkin—the rest is the same.

Ingredients

  • 2 kg grated zucchini (about 4 pounds and 6.5 ounces or 4.4 pounds)
  • 1 large peeled, grated onion (could be chopped in a food processor rather than grated)
  • 1 large peeled, grated carrot
  • 2 peeled, grated potatoes
  • ½ kg crumbled feta cheese (about 1 pound and 1.6 ounces or 1.1 pounds)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley (could be chopped in a food processor)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh spearmint (could be chopped in a food processor)
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons dry, uncooked oatmeal
  • Salt and pepper to taste, if needed (but remember the feta is salty)
  • More olive oil for frying
  • Flour as needed

 

Directions

After grating the zucchini, onion, carrot, and potatoes, mix them with a bit of salt, if desired. (The onion could be chopped in any food chopper, but the other vegetables should either be grated by hand or processed with a special grating blade, if available, for best results.) Mix the vegetables together with clean hands until well blended.

Squeeze out the excess vegetable juices, then leave the vegetable mixture in a colander inside a bowl in the refrigerator for two hours or more (overnight is fine) to allow the juices to seep out. (You don’t need them for this recipe.)

raw grated vegetables and spearmint leaves in a metal bowl After the vegetable mixture has drained well, add the remaining ingredients, except for the flour and the olive oil for frying. Mix everything together with clean hands. (You’ll see whole mint leaves in the photo instead of chopped ones; they’re fine that way, too.)

Form the mixture into flat patties like small hamburgers (a bit more than 6 cm or less than 2 ½ inches diameter). Pour some flour onto a plate, then coat each patty with flour, top and bottom, and set aside.

Heat some oil for frying on high heat. (Extra virgin olive oil is best and healthiest, if available; other olive oil will work, too). Test the oil by putting in one patty; if it begins to turn golden brown before too long, the oil should be ready. (Lower the temperature if it seems too hot.) Fry the patties until golden brown on one side, then turn them over and fry on the other side. Drain on a plate covered in paper towels.

These are best while fresh and hot, but if you wish to save some for later, they can be refrigerated or frozen with baking paper between each layer of zucchini burgers. Do not microwave; rather, defrost in the refrigerator (if frozen) and reheat in the oven.

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