Belinda Jeffery

I used to make these in our café, and they were always popular. What’s not to love? Grated zucchini combined with lemon zest, loads of dill, garlic, and parmesan, with nuggets of haloumi tucked into the batter as it cooks. Add a simple yoghurt sauce and the fritters make a really lovely light meal… better still with the addition of some oily Greek olives, wedges of lemon, and chunks of warm pide bread. It’s so good!

Makes 12 fritters

To make the sauce, put the yoghurt into a bowl and stir in the dill and salt. Cover and refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it.

For the fritters, combine the egg, lemon zest, dill, garlic, salt, pepper and parmesan, mixing together well. Add the zucchini and stir it in. Using a fork, stir in the flour in three or four batches to avoid any little lumps forming.

Heat a little of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium–low heat. When it’s hot, scoop about 2 tablespoons of zucchini batter into the pan to make a fritter. Repeat this with more batter, leaving a gap between each one so they have room to spread. Cook the fritters in batches until they’re pale golden on the bottom, about 2–3 minutes. While they’re cooking on the first side, make a shallow hole in the top of each fritter and nestle in a few small pieces of haloumi, feta or goat’s cheese. Spoon a tiny bit of batter over the cheese to cover it, then turn the fritters over and cook them until the other side is golden. As they become ready, put them onto paper towels to drain. (You can pop them in a low oven to keep them warm. 

To serve them, put three fritters on each plate, then add some black olives, a wedge of lemon, a big spoonful of the dill and yoghurt sauce and a sprig of dill. All you need now for a perfect light lunch is a good loaf of bread and a glass of wine.