Spicy Cracked Pepper Sardine Zucchini Fritters

Servings

3-4

Prep Time

20 minutes

Difficulty

Intermediate

Crispy zucchini fritters studded with spicy cracked pepper sardines, fried golden and served with fresh dill and your choice of dipping sauce.

Drain the oil from the can of sardines, but keep the peppercorns with the sardines.
In a bowl, add grated zucchini and squeeze out excess moisture. You can use a cheese cloth or paper towels. You should end up with about 3 cups grated zucchini.
Add onion, flour, baking powder, egg, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine well.
If you want to show a whole sardine on each fritter, reserves about half of the sardines to place on the fritters when forming.
Stir in remaining sardines (or all the sardines if not topping with fritters with a whole sardine) and reserved peppercorns from the sardine can into the zucchini mixture to break the sardines into chunks.
Pour about 1/2 inch of oil into large frying pan or skillet. Heat over medium-high heat until oil is about 350°F.
Scoop about 2-3 Tablespoons of filling into the oil and gently press down to form a disk. If you like to have a big bite of sardines, you can place a whole sardine into the top of the zucchini fritter before flipping.
Fry each side for about 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oil, drain on paper towels and allow to cool.
Top with chopped dill and serve with sauce of choice.