Zucchini Pancakes with Lemon Basil Aioli

As promised :) Please excuse crappy photo quality-I had my camera set to the lowest possible resolution.

This recipe was inspired by the fabulous Cannelle et Vanille, but I added a few of my own tweaks here and there. Make sure to use zucchini which are no more than 4" long because baby zuchs are the most flavourful. I used a gigantic pattypan squash that I picked up at the Dufferin Park farmer's market however, so feel free to experiment with the most flavourful gourds you can get your paws on.

By the way a quick word on the photo: I had a much better photo of all of my ingredients, but it didn't include a certain kitty pretending like he's totally not invading the shot. Nice try, Pumpkin, but I'm on to you.

Zucchini Potato Pancakes

Yield: Approx 15, 2.5" diameter pancakes

• 4 cups coarsely grated zucchini (or about 1 lb of zucchini
• 2 medium russet potatoes, coarsely grated
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour*
• 1 egg, beaten
• generous pinch of salt
• generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper (or to personal preference)
• 1 handful of chopped chives, or about 3/4 of a cup
• 2 tblsp olive oil

After grating, place the potato and zucchini mixture into a colander let it sit for 20 minutes to let some of the water drain out. I used this time to make the aioli, in case you are interested. Next, working a couple of handfuls at a time, wrap the mixture in some paper towel and squeeze out as much of the remaining water as you can.

Like so.

 Once you've squeezed your zucchini (hmm might need to reword this) mixture, pop it into a bowl and combine with the flour, egg, chives, salt, and pepper.

Kind of a trippy photo but you get the picture. Heh.

Next, heat up 2 tblsp of olive oil in a 10" saute pan over med-high heat, until very hot (but not smoking). I was trying to keep it (relatively) healthy but if you prefer you can always sub out 1 tlbsp of oil for butter  to give your pancakes and nice crunchy exterior. Working in batches of 5 pancakes, scoop out 2 tlbsp-worth of your batter and drop it into the pan. Flatten it down with the back of a spoon to your desired thickness. As you can see from the photos, I made mine pretty thick (about 1/2" and 2.5" in diameter). Cook until golden brown and crispy on once side, then flip. This should take no more than 3-5min per batch.

I sprinkled a little smoked paprika on top for some extra flavour.

 Remove from heat and put on a cooling tray covered with paper towel and pat dry. Replenish olive oil in pan as needed. To finish, sprinkle with a touch of sea salt and some more chopped chives. Serve immediately with aioli. Enjoy!

Rest assured that despite my food-styling skills (or lack thereof), these truly are delicious.

I served these with the aioli on top, but it would look great ala Cannelle et Vanille: in a pretty jar with a delicate spoon for serving.

*If you prefer your potato pancakes to be more pancake-like vs. rosti-like, simply add another egg and 2 tablespoons of flour to the zucchini mixture.

Lemon Basil Aioli

Yield: Approx 1 cup

• 1-2 fresh garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• a very generous pinch of coarse sea salt or kosher salt
• 1 egg yolk, at room temp
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup canola oil*
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup of sweet basil leaves
• couple drops of sriracha (optional)

Place the garlic and salt into a food processor or blender and pulse for 5 seconds. Add the egg yolk and lemon juice, and pulse on and off until well blended. Now, turn your blender/food processor on and pour in your oil in a thin stream until you've used it all. If at any point your aioli gets too thick, you can thin it out by adding in some room-temp water. Then, add in your basil leaves and blend until the mixture turns a pale green. I also added 2 drops of Sriracha here, because as I might have mentioned...I put that sh*t on everything (sorry Frank's).

I was going to add tarragon to the aioli but I had some lovely fresh basil in the garden...

Finally, turn off your blender and spoon your aioli into a container and refrigerate until your pancakes are ready/you are in the mood for some amazing aioli.

*You might have noticed that this recipe calls for canola oil. Why? Because some people find the taste of EVOO aioli to be a bit overpowering. Me? I like the grassy/peppery taste combined with the sweetness of the zucchini, but I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea. Soo, if you have a beautiful, pure, fruity olive oil hanging around your pantry, definitely use it for this recipe. If not, sub in canola oil and all will be well: