Aytekin Yar's Zucchini Pancakes

I have always been a little ambivalent about meat. Oh, don't get me wrong: I like it well and good. Broiling a nice juicy steak until it spatters and hisses and crusts up in all the right places is wonderful. Roasting a chicken and seeing the skin crisp up in the oven while the meat goes tender beneath is lovely, too. And most of the ills in the world can be cured with a few savory pork-stuffed dumplings, dripping broth and juice. But I don't need meat every day, or even every other day. And since moving to Berlin, my goodness, it seems all I do is eat it.

At first I blamed the winter. All that relentless ice and snow required spitting hot sausages and bacon-studded fried potatoes. Didn't it? Then we went skiing in Austria and were served meat every single night for dinner. And sometimes lunch, too. Every single day! I felt like it was 1962 all over again. And since it's nice to be back in a country where eating liverwurst isn't considered suspect or only for the aged and infirm, I made it a regular part of dinner (and sometimes breakfast), too.

Sometime a few weeks ago I'd had enough. I'd eaten more meat in the last three months than I probably had combined in the entire past year. Enough! I missed my meatless dinners, my all-green meals, my refrigerator full of leaves.

Since then, I've made a lot of spicy cabbage, several tomato-cucumber salads (eaten on the balcony!), and had more than a few cheese toasts instead of liverwurst ones. (The Sainsbury's cheddar, tragically, is all gone now. Good thing I've just booked another flight to London. For the conference! Of course. Not for the cheese. No, not at all.)

And I've been saying a little prayer every night to the gods that be at the New York Times dining section that they make Elaine Louie's Temporary Vegetarian column a little less Temporary and a little more Permanent. Seriously, that column? Is a gem. Remember the Chana Punjabi? Her cabbage strudel haunts my dreams. And these Turkish zucchini pancakes, dolloped with garlicky yogurt, were nothing short of stellar. Right now, her column is the best part about that dining section for me and I hope it becomes a permanent part of the Wednesday lineup.

But back to those pancakes. Hoo boy.

I once had zucchini pancakes, 10 years ago at a friend's one-room apartment in Paris. She was, to be polite, not a gifted cook and all I could remember was the pile of slightly blackened vegetable shreds lying on my plate, glistening with still-raw egg and oil. Oooh, not pleasant in the very least. "A for effort", though, as the 7-foot tall Massachusetts State Trooper folded into the passenger seat of my dad's sedan told me when I passed my driving test at 19.

So I had this recipe bookmarked for a year before I got around to trying it. What I didn't want were oily pancakes, or heavy ones. I wanted something light and fluffy and delicious and green, and, oh, did I get what I wanted. Readers, don't wait this long before trying these things. They are too good to be ignored.

I made a few changes to the recipe: First of all, dill remains the final frontier in my food world. It is the one and only thing I really, really don't like. I got over cilantro, so maybe I will one day get over dill, but I'm not holding my breath. It tastes like dirty fridge to me and that's all I can say about that. But mint and zucchini are such a lovely pair, such a springy pair of lovebirds that I substituted the one for the other with spectacular results. Also, I totally forgot to add the baking powder. It just slipped my mind. And the pancakes were fine! So I guess it's not entirely essential?

Other than that, the recipe was a charm. You quickly shred three zucchini (I used those very pale green ones, which are called marrows in England, held firmly against a big cheese grater) and squeeze the ever-loving life out of them once the shreds have been salted for a bit. You mix this limp green mess with eggs and crumbled feta and sliced scallions and the mint. Then you fry good-sized (3-4 tablespoons worth) mounds of the batter in vegetable oil until browned and crisping.

Piping hot, they were savory and sweet, full of yielding pockets of salty-soft feta and bright with mint and scallions, while the cool yogurt sauce balanced each mouthful. Very, very good.

But. Eaten cold from the fridge the next day? They were even better, if that's possible. The flavors were richer yet lighter, too; the pancake firmer and easier to eat. Totally transcendent, really. I had only two pancakes leftover and I actually caught myself wishing we'd eaten less at dinner the night before. I love discovering things that taste even better the next day: It makes my inner Martha Stewart emerge and I find myself planning elaborate buffet luncheons featuring entire tables covered with food cooked the previous day.

These pancakes? They'd be front and center. And no one would miss the meat.

Zucchini Pancakes
Makes 12 pancakes

For the pancakes
3 medium zucchini, shredded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1-2 tablespoons finely shredded fresh mint
1 teaspoon baking powder (I forgot to add this! And they were fine)
4 to 6 tablespoons vegetable oil, more as needed

For the yogurt sauce
2/3 cup plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place zucchini in a colander over a bowl, and mix with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Allow to drain for five minutes. Transfer to a cloth kitchen towel, and squeeze hard to extract as much moisture as possible. Squeeze a second time; volume will shrink to about half the original.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine zucchini and eggs. Using a fork, mix well. Add flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, olive oil, feta, scallions, mint and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Mix well, add baking powder, if using, and mix again.

3. Place a cast iron skillet or other heavy skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Place heaping tablespoons of zucchini batter in pan several inches apart, allowing room to spread. Flatten them with a spatula if necessary; pancakes should be about 3/8 inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. Fry until golden on one side, then turn and fry again until golden on other side. Repeat once or twice, frying about 5 to 6 minutes total, so pancakes get quite crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, and keep warm in oven. Continue frying remaining batter, adding more oil to pan as needed. Serve hot.

4. For yogurt sauce: In a small bowl, combine yogurt, garlic and salt. Mix well, and serve on the side or on pancakes.

Comments

[carol morris]

I never use baking powder and actually don't use cheese either - but do add some chopped onion. Grating a carrot in is good as well. Any herb will do. And plain yogurt is fine. And yes, for lunch or even breakfast the next day they are great. If you like salt, a great vehicle for that. Such a perfect description of one of my favorite foods.

[Kristine in Santa Barbara]

I made a half recipe for dinner this evening. So easy, so fast, so yummy. No dill or mint as I had neither, but I love dill and zucchini. I used extra chives from the garden. It's the sweating the zucchini with salt and thorough squeezing that makes them light. The batter doesn't have extra moisture so the pancakes don't absorb too much oil. Very, very tasty. You can have them in the pan within ten minutes of starting the grating. Thanks for sharing this one!

[Nadia]

For more Turkish recipes, you might want to check this out:

http://almostturkish.blogspot.com/

[Omar]

Looks tasty but what's with the oven being on at 250 Degrees? It doesn't seem to get used at any point. Or is it to warm up a chilly Berlin kitchen?

[Marci]

These were delicious! I made them last night, although I had them alongside a juicy steak, which admittedly defeats the meatless quest you had going with this recipe.

I'm also having some right now, cold, for my lunch. You're right - even yummier cold than hot!

Thanks!

[Marcia]

Hello again..the light green zucchini are, I think, called "zucchini"..If you look at seed catalogues, there are a zillion different varieties from shiny deep green to pale green to striped. Sang Lee farms on the North Fork of Long Island grows many varieties, and they look beautiful all heaped together in baskets.There is not too much difference in taste except for the tiny baby ones which cost a kings ransom , but are so very pretty in a stir fry. The ones to avoid are the huge baseball bats lingering under the leaves after a rain storm..They are watery and tasteless..the best size for anything are those that are 3 or 4 to a pound. To answer Molly, these are natural kid food..fried so they are crunchy on the outside .a little salty from the feta, And they are finger food! If they don't like yogurt sauce , serve them with apple sauce or tomato sauce, or no sauce at all. Good luck.

[Emily]

I made it last night! delicious!

[Andrea]

I am loving these comments. Especially the one cursing squash in it's infinite variety!

I also cured my dislike of cilantro. It was the smell that overwhelmed me. But because it is in so many foods that I love, I managed to overcome that resistance with small amounts used infrequently eventually adding more and more. I still make my husband chop it though... that I just can't quite handle.

This recipe looks lovely and it's on my list for summer's zucchini overload.

[Luisa]

kim - I went to Mexico a few years ago for work, to Baja, and had several transcendent, yet simple, meals there. It was during one of those meals, a staff lunch at a cooking school, that I suddenly "got" cilantro. It went from tasting metallic and wrong to suddenly being like a flash of sun in my mouth. Very hard to describe! I loved it that moment and I've enjoyed it since then. It will never be like basil for me, which basically I could inhale every day. But it no longer tastes bad to me.

Omar - the oven is on because it's where you can keep the pancakes warm (see the end of step 3), if you'd like to fry them all before serving them. You can of course skip this step - I did - and simply serve the pancakes as they come off the frying pan. All it means is that you can't eat at the same time as your dinner companions.

Marci - so glad you liked them!

[The Leftoverist]

We're finally getting some sun here in Seattle, and these seem like just the thing. Thank you!

[Sara]

i hate dill too! seriously, who decided we should be eating that mungy weed? You are SO accurate with the dirty fridge description :)

[Open to Grace]

your recipe sounds lovely. and i agree about germany. I was there on an extended trip last year and by the 3rd day, all i wanted was a large leafy green salad and i'm not normally a salad eater! not that all the wurst, etc was bad. i loved it! but after 3 days, sometimes you just need a palate cleanser. thanks for sharing!

[Elizabeth]

YUM! I just had a liverwurst sandwich for lunch on Thursday. I'm not old/infirm (I"m 40), but my jury-mates WERE suspicious. It was delicious.

Will give your Zuke Cakes a go; LOVED your Cauliflower Gratin.

EM

[janet]

mmmmm the pancakes sound divine, have to try it later this week when the farmers market opens, woot! can you believe just this week i dug out the chana punjabi post and cooked it up, just had it again tonight, love it! keep 'em coming

[BenWL]

Yummy! This is one mouth-watering recipe

[my little expat kitchen]

What a great recipe. I love zucchini but in a pancake? Incredible. I bet it's delicious. I have to try it.
Magda

[Sonia]

These look gorgeous, I can't wait to do this recipe!
Your posts are so lovely, I look forward to seeing what you do next.
When you are in England I would recommend that you step away from the Cheddar(if it's the bendy, plastic English one) and try the Irish or Canadian Cheddars that Sainsbury's do.I think the flavours of these are so much fuller!

[Lilly]

Oh! This looks gorgeous. I'll definitely make this! I can't believe you're not head over heels in love with dill?! I love it! I eat ALOT of tzatziki and have loads of dill in it, yum. Although I don't really like fennel that much. And dill and fennel are cousins so maybe I can understand where you're coming from...

[Suz]

Made these last night for dinner (with a sunchoke soup!) and they were LOVELY. The recipe is easy to divide down (I made enough for just three smallish pancakes).

I used cotija cheese and sour cream instead of yogurt. (I just couldn't bear to leave the house yet again after a day of running errands!)

Thank you for the wonderful inspiration!

[TheHeatNYC]

Loved them! Thought the mint added a little something different - though I do love dill too!

[Mike S]

Luisa Luisa Luisa... You've gotten over cilantro but still don't like dill? Shame. I'm only just getting over my distaste of cilantro, but dill has been a joy of mine for years! Switching it up for mint, however, is kinda brilliant. :o)

[A girl in Madrid]

These looks absolutely delicious, can't wait to try them.

[Melissa]

These were LOVELY! I made them with the baking powder and it just made them even lighter and fluffier. Yum, and now I'm eating the leftovers for lunch at room temperature. I paired the zucchini pancakes w/basmati rice and sauteed kale. Fantastic. Keep the vegetarian recipes coming!

[joanna goddard]

these look absolutely delicious!!! xo joanna

[charlotte]

These were than I expected, lighter, finer, yummier. The guests included a Bostonian husband who would rather eat brisket and mashed potatoes and a barely 6-year-old who is beginning to overcome her years 2-5 aversions. All at the table loved/devoured them, with yogurt sauce (garlic and zaatar with drizzle of olive oil). Food-skeptical husband kept commenting "these are delicious, these pancakes are delicious."

[Cassandra]

I searched your comments looking for another person besides myself who loves dill and hates mint. Okay, maybe "hate" is too strong a word, but I think it makes everything taste like toothpaste or gum! But, it looks like I am alone on this one! Either way, I love the Greek version of these too, called kolokithokeftedes. And as far as I'm concerned, you could put tzatziki on just about anything and I'd love it!

[Dawn (KitchenTravels)]

I know what you mean. Sometimes I can literally feel my body screaming for a salad!

The previously-but-no-longer-adventurous palate of my 8 year-old son just MIGHT give these a taste without too much drama. Worth a shot. If he turns them down, well, I guess there will be more for me. ;)

[klp]

Luisa, I made these last night (with dill, no baking powder) and they were everything you said and more! I <3 Elaine Louie's column. How do we make her a permanent vegetarian?...I'm just saying, we need more of her.

Cassandra, I am with you! I love dill (and cilantro), but I'm allergic to mint. Long live substitutions!

[Rosie]

We made these the other night for dinner and, despite my husband's initial skepticism, they were DELICIOUS. I used dill, since we do love it, and they reminded me of spanokopita - thanks again for another absolutely spot-on recipe. Can't wait to read your book!

[Leah]

Do you think Eggbeaters would work? I would love to make these but we're on a lowfat regimen, er..diet.

[CatsCooking]

wow, I love your blog, I really do, but this post was like porn to me. It had me wanting to reach into the screen and eating the pancakes.
again, wow. Well written. i might even try making the pancakes and I am not even crazy about Zucchini.

[Deborah Dowd]

I have made zucchini cakes before but never with feta, like these. Can't wait to give your version a try!

[Christine Corbin]

Just found your blog today, and made this recipe a few hours later. They turned out beautifully, and I have leftover so I can't wait to see how they'll taste tomorrow. I love your blog!

[Luisa]

Leah - I have actually never used Eggbeaters, so I'm not sure. Could be worth a try, though I actually think that the fat you might be saving, which isn't much, would get canceled out by the frying in oil bit?

Christine - thank you!

[Toffeeapple]

Great recipe, but I must take you to task over the term 'marrow'. In Britain, marrows are a large vegetable whilst what you call zuchini are'courgettes'.

Davidstow Cheddar is another good cheese, available from Waitrose.

[vincent]

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[Kerry]

I just love zucchini in the summer. This is one I will have to try - never would have thought to top them with a yogurt sauce, but it sounds great! And I love the addition of the feta - can't wait to try. Thanks!

[Tricia Tierney]

These were absolutely scrumptious! Printed out the recipe and into the book of keepers. Thank you!

[Go Go Boots]

Oh oh! When I don't see a post from you for a while, I worry about you! Hope all's okay. Hmmm...somehow I get the feeling that maybe you are on a very long, romantic date???

[Kelly]

I just made these and they were delicious! They're good with the baking powder, though I don't know them otherwise. (ps: I follow your blog all the time, and just wanted to say how lovely it is. Best wishes.)

[Katrina]

Yum! I've never had zucchini pancakes before. Can't wait to try :)

[Meredith]

Hope all's well! Haven't seen a post in a while...hope it's due to fun!

[Meg @ Chaotic College Cook]

I've been trying to find a good zucchini pancake recipe for years now - my school dining hall makes a very good one, but these look even better! You would not believe how excited I am to try this...

[Rocky Mountain Woman]

I love liverwurst and haven't had it in years. My grandfather was a butcher and German to boot, so we had it a lot as kids. I wonder where I could get some really good liverwurst?

[littleclove]

I made these the other nigth and they were absolutely fabulous! So light, like you said, not heavy. Even my daughter loved them. This is one for my recipe files!

[Lucy]

Hi Luisa

I just wanted to comment to say how much I love your blog- a friend recommended it and I lost a couple of hours of my afternoon this afternoon reading old posts, scribbling down recipes as I went. I really love your writing style too- so entertaining to read, and combined with the great photos and recipes I'm hooked! I'm really glad to hear you're going to carry on blogging while book writing- and on a side note its really inspiring to hear of the big move you've made.... I'm possibly making a big move next year,taking a leap of faith certainly and so it's lovely to follow your experience!

Lucy

[Window On The Prairie]

Another way to use Zucchini? Great Idea. Anyone who's ever grown them in the garden knows that you try to find ways to use them all up after a while. One plant will feed a village.
Suzanne

[mrspresidio]

I just prepped these for dinner tonight and they looked so good, I had to fry one up to try it straightaway. So yummy - I had two!

I've been offline for a while and it was nice to find you in Berlin. I lived there a lifetime ago and loved the city. I often visit in my dreams and it is always snowing and romantic. The view out your window is giving me a whopping dose of wanderlust.

[Oneida]

Wow this just looks delicious, something familiar and homy and yet out-going and modern. I will have to try this sometime, thanks for the recipe, great blog.

[Robyn]

I can't tell you how much I enjoy your blog... Every time I read it I feel slightly nostalgic, though I can't quite put my finger on why. Nostalgic and inspired. The Zucchini Pancakes WILL be made this weekend - perfect autumn food.