When a zucchini fritter meets a hash brown my brunch dreams collide. I have loved hash browns since I was a kid. Like, my favourite burger as a 10 year old was the tower burger at KFC because it had a hash brown it in. It’s been a long love affair. And I’ve now made it a more nutritious one. Hoorah!

Plus zucchini fritters are delicious (here’s a recipe!). And these have the crispy freshness of a fritter in them to lighten things up and add more veg! It took a few goes to get these right and the secret is in two crucial steps. One: You have to great the potato more finely than you do the zucchini to get them to cook correctly and evenly. Two: You need to add a little flour because squeezing the extra moisture out isn’t enough.

The flour and finely grated potato helps them bind without an egg. You gan use gluten free flour, I used buckwheat, and it will work just fine. They’re a dairy free, vegan and gluten free breakfast option. Delicious with a dollop of yoghurt and some avocado. Also really good topped with a poached egg.

You could also have them as a standard brunch side if you’re doing a big cook up for a group of you. They’re super easy to make and would make your made brunch look very professional. And when you make yourself brunch at home you want it to be cafe worthy because otherwise your having a sucky breakfast AND doing your own dishes, that’d be silly. On that note, you should always cook brunch fr someone else too, that way there’s a grateful person who feels like they should do the dishes to contribute to the whole affair. Excellent news for the person who likes to do the cooking bit.

Did I mention that these are crispy and golden on the outside and tender on the inside? Did I mention that they’re super easy to make and refrigerate well if you have leftovers? Did I mention that you should probably make them now? Go on you.

Makes 8 fritters approx

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes, peeled

1 medium zucchini, washed

1/2 cup finely chopped spring onion

2 Tbs finely chopped parsley

1/2 tsp – 1 tsp chilli flakes (how hot do you like things?)

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (or plain,wholemeal, spelt and besan would also work)

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs olive oil

Directions

Uuing a food processor or box grater grate the zucchini on the thickest possible setting/side. Then grate the potatoes on a finer setting (not on the zesting side, that’d be too fine) ideally you want your grated zucchini twice as thick as your grated potato.

Combine potato and zucchini and squeeze to remove some of the moisture. Don’t get too pedantic the flour will soak up some of it. Now add the flour, spring onion, chilli, parsley and salt and mix well to combine.

Place on pan on medium high heat and add the olive oil. Once hot start adding your hash browns. To mould them simply grab a small handful, about 1/3 cup, of mixture and shape into a patty by squeezing together. Place in the oil, don’t over crowd your pan, and cook on one side for 4-5 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Flip and cook a further 4 minutes on the other side.

Serve with avocado, herby yoghurt sauce, or eggs.

HH. x