The winner of our Zero Waste Food competition. A meal and a side in one! Unbelievable Jeff.
Food Engineer: Sarah Hunt + Megan O’Callaghan.
Ingredients:
· 2 small courgettes.
· One tbsp of chia/flax seeds (or your chosen egg substitute).
· Half a lemon (juice and zest).
· Half a red chilli finely chopped or a pinch of chilli flakes.
· Any fresh (finely chopped) or dried green herbs you have (mint and oregano, or dill work well).
· Around 20g of plain flour.
· 50g of vegan feta (optional) chopped into small chunks. Find at your local health food store or a big Sainsbury's.
Pancake Ingredients:
· Courgette water.
· Flour.
Method:
1) Mix some water with your chosen egg substitute, allow to sit for 10 mins.
2) Grate your courgette and squeeze out as much of the juice as possible. Either by wrapping the lot in a clean tea-towel and wringing out, or (if teatowels are a premium in your kitchen) taking fistfuls and squeezing hard. SAVE this lovely green liquid.
3) To the grated courgette add lemon
juice, chilli, egg substitute, herbs, optional vegan feta, and seasoning. Mix well and then slowly add the flour. You want the mix to come together when compacted.
4) Form the fritters into patties (collecting any more excess liquid in the process!).
5) Fry the fritters in a non-stick pan for about 5 mins on each side until golden.
BONUS Pancakes:
1) Whisk about a tablespoon of flour into the courgette water adding more until it forms a thin batter consistancy. Season with S&P.
2) Fry in the same pan once the fritters are done. Ensure the batter is spread thinly.
Plate-up:
Serve the fritters and pancakes with some chutney and chilli sauce. Squeeze some lemon on-top, throw on some chopped spring onions and enjoy!
This recipe was submitted as part of our zero food waste recipe competition. We asked for recipes which creatively tackled the food waste problem.
In the words of our competition winners: "large courgettes have a reputation for being watery and when used in recipes, the water is commonly squeezed out and thrown away. This recipe collects the liquid from the courgette and turns it into tasty savoury pancakes with only the addition of flour - creating an accompaniment (nearly from nothing) to the main courgette dish.
This recipe generates no food waste and only uses common store cupboard ingredients, making it a quick, simple and cheap dish to make. It’s also very versatile – you can use almost any green herbs you may have in your kitchen and it can be served with your carb, salad and/or vegetables of choice to make a delicious dinner for two".