Broccoli Fritters!!

These are so good, I just... I am having a hard time explaining just how delicious, just how decadent these taste, and all there are is a lot of broccoli, some flour and some parmesan. So easy, and actually rather fun.

I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and considering how beautiful the photography is on that site, I'm rather glad I didn't take shitty pictures of my own cooking experience. Please feel free to ditch this post in favor of the SK one. But I did make some small tweaks between my first attempt and my second, and the second was a lot better.

Broccoli Fritters
makes 4 side servings

18oz raw broccoli florets, trimmed to about 1" size, stems discarded
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup finely shredded parmesan
1 cup all purpose flour
1 pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Vegetable oil

Lightly steam your broccoli florets. They should be quite tender but not super mushy. As they're cooling, add your beaten egg, parmesan, flour, pepper flakes and S&P to a large bowl.

Add your broccoli on top and with a potato masher (or a meat tenderizer in my case), smash your broccoli up. Now, Smitten Kitchen suggests mashing them a bit, "leaving the pieces recognizable" but I found, on my second try, that mashing them a bit further was A-OK.

Once the broccoli is mashed, start mixing it with the ingredients below until it's nice and chunky. Thoroughly mixed, you know the drill. Now, put a heavy skillet (think cast iron) over medium high heat and add, as Smitten Kitchen puts it, a good slick of oil in there. Just enough to thoroughly coat the bottom of the skillet.

When your skillet is ready, which you can test with a few drops of water, take about two tablespoons' worth of broccoli mix and form a small patty. My friend Kendra did this expertly with her hands, much like you would a hamburger patty.

I want to pause here and say that the second go round my broccoli mix was far less sticky than the first time (I had followed SK's measurements to a T; I think doubling the recipe + 2 more ounces of broccoli really helped the consistency). So if you're going by SK's recipe, I think adding a wee bit more broccoli and mashing it up a bit more may help.

ANYWAYS. Now, add about four patties to the skillet at a time. After just a few minutes, they'll be ready for a flip. Once both sides are a nice golden brown, remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain as you cook the rest of them.

A great sauce for dipping can be simple ranch dressing, or, if you add a generous amount of both chili powder and paprika to plain, non-fat yogurt, that my friends is a tangy deliciousness you'll not soon forget.

I really hope you go out and try these. They were SO delicious, we had them Friday night with steak, Saturday night with ribs, and tonight we're having them with some baked chicken breasts.