You say Zucchini I say Courgette!

Ah the life-long struggle between English-English and American-English:  is it tom-ah-to?  is it tom-ay-to?  Is it zucchini or is it courgette?  Eggplant or Aubergine?  If the truth be told, we have these discussion in our house regarding English-English:  is it sc-own-e or sc-on?  I am most definitely of the sc-own-e persuasion.  I mean, when did you last talk to someone on the phon, in the zon whilst eating an ice-cream con?  There's an e on the end of scone, and it should be pronounced.

Yearly we have to deal with a seasonal glut of courgettes - we plant them each year.  Sometimes we plant yellow ones, sometimes the conventional green-flecked skins.  Our veggie-box had 3 courgettes in it this week and we had to decide what to do with them.  

Courgettes are a versatile vegetable, they can be stuffed with minced meat, chopped into rounds and fried in butter or finely shredded and made into fritters.  And that is just what I did with them last night:  Courgette and paprika fritters.

They are incredibly easy to make - having said that I did have a partial failure, not on epic proportions though - I didn't get enough of the water out.  I recommend using a muslin and squeezing out as much water as you can muster. 

Courgette, Cheddar and Paprika Fritters 

•   Wash and grate 2 courgettes.  You need to get as much excess water out.  You can do what I did and lay them out, salted, on a paper towel for 30 minutes, or what I recommend you do - put them into a clean muslin and squeeze out the last remaining drops.
•   Finely chop half a small onion, add to the bowl.
•   Put the courgette into a bowl and season well.
•   Add 1 teaspoon of paprika and half a teaspoon of chilli powder.
•   Add 200g of grated cheddar cheese (feta would work well too).
•   Add 2 eggs.  Mix well.
•   Heat some oil in a heavy-based frying pan.  
•   When the oil is hot add one quarter of the mixture, press it flat with a spatula.  Repeat for the second quarter.  Don't be tempted to add more. 
•   Fry for 3-4 minutes without disturbing.  You want to develop a nice crust.
•   Carefully flip each fritter.
•   Cook on the second side until golden brown - about 4 minutes. 

I served them with the perennial English classic, Heinz baked beans (yes, we do eat a lot).