Hello lovelies,
in August I always have too many zucchini, and at some point even the last gratin has been made. That is when the waffle iron comes out of the cupboard here and we have savory zucchini waffles with Parmesan: crisp outside, soft inside, ready in 30 minutes and far more popular with the children than any pan of vegetables.
The most important step happens before there is any batter at all. The grated zucchini gets salted, left for 10 minutes and then wrung out properly in a tea towel. A surprising amount of water comes out, and that water is what decides between crisp and floppy. My crispy zucchini fries with wasabi mayo work on exactly the same principle, needing the same preparation before they brown in the oven rather than in a waffle iron.
I grate the Parmesan finely rather than coarsely. That way it spreads through the whole batter and catches a little on the edges of the waffle iron, which gives those small crisp rims everyone ends up fighting over. Zucchini and Parmesan are an old couple anyway, and they land on our table as spaghetti alla Nerano with crispy zucchini as well.
Our waffle iron gets used far too rarely, when in fact it can do a great deal more than Sunday mornings. If something sweet is called for after all, I bake my coconut lime waffles with coconut milk in the very same iron, and nobody at the table notices it is the same machine.
They are served warm, with a little Parmesan on top and a yogurt dip with plenty of garlic and lemon beside them. If you have no waffle iron in the cupboard, simply fry the very same batter as fritters in a pan, the way I do with my chickpea fritters with vegetables.
I hope these waffles carry you through the weeks when the garden delivers more zucchini than anyone can eat. And if the grill is already lit, my grilled zucchini halloumi skewers with peach are the next plate out of the same crate.
