I had the perfect zucchini plant in the garden this year. It wasn’t overly productive, giving us just one or two small zucchini at a time, and then waiting a few days before pushing out another one. Only once did I miss a zucchini and end up with a monster that was subsequently turned into bread for the freezer. A few years ago we totally overdid it on the zucchini, and ever since then, I’ve tried to have a light hand with it- we really did not enjoy eating it every single day with every single meal just to try and keep up with the plant.
But this recipe is good enough, that I plan to buy out of season zucchini just to make it. I had been looking for something different to make with zucchini. Several years ago I played around with the idea of making something like a potato pancake- only using zucchini. Those turned out okay, and were quite good with marinara, but I wanted something that was good just as it was- no condiment needed.
I found on allrecipes.com a few recipes for zucchini “crab” cakes. At first I dismissed them, thinking that they probably used imitation krab, hence the quotation marks. But it turned out, they used no crab at all- fake or otherwise, and was simply similarly flavored to a crab cake. That sounded great to me, so I forged ahead and decided to try one of the recipes, though, of course, I changed a few things and decided to bake mine instead of frying them.
The biggest change I had to make to the recipe, actually was with the seasoning. It called for Old Bay, which I can certainly get here, but as seafood is not a frequent offering here due to cost, it would very seldom get used. Instead, I went for a decidedly northern approach and used Penzey’s Northwoods seasoning, which ended up the perfect substitution. For the breadcrumbs I used fresh bread that I set out for a little while to dry out (maybe a couple hours) and then blitzed in the food processor. I far prefer that over keeping bread crumbs in the pantry- which always taste stale to me.
I shredded the zucchini on my box grater, and then set it in a colander, where I pressed on it a bit to remove some of the liquid from the zucchini. I didn’t press the snot out of it, but I got a fair amount of liquid out. Then I measured the 2 1/2 cups that I needed for the recipe, and added everything else to the bowl. It was kind of gloppy, but reminded me very much of the consistency when I make homemade black bean burgers, so it wasn’t unfamiliar to me, and I knew how to shape it.
I took one of my sheet pans and lined it with foil, which I then gave a good spray with cooking spray. I divided my mixture into eight little blobs on the foil, which I shaped into eight patties, and then gave the top a light spritz with the cooking spray.
Into a 400ºF oven they went, and fifteen minutes later, I flipped them over. Another fifteen minutes, and the patties were done. They smelled heavenly. And they tasted remarkably like a crab cake. They didn’t need any condiment at all, they were perfectly seasoned and were a really interesting way to eat zucchini. We ate them as a side dish to some grilled chicken and a fresh tomato salad from the garden. Even Zander ate most of one of these patties, and told me he thought they tasted really good.
Thinking about these again, I would love to make some right now! Last Memorial day I had one of the single most amazing brunch dishes I’d ever had in St.Paul. We’d gone to an amazing gastropub called the Happy Gnome, where I had crab cake eggs benedict. Serious goodness. Probably the best egg dish I’ve ever eaten. While these zucchini cakes did not have the texture of a real crab cake, they have a pretty close flavor, and I bet these would be stunning with the addition of a few eggs on top!
Zucchini Cakes
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini 1 egg, beaten 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 cup bread crumbs 1/4 cup minced onion 1 teaspoon Penzey’s Northwoods seasoning 1/4 cup all-purpose flour Directions:Preheat the oven to 400ºF, and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix together until thoroughly combined.
Shape the mixture into eight circles on the foil lined sheet, spray the tops of the cakes lightly with cooking spray.
Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the cakes over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve immediately.