Make the yogurt dip. Mix the yogurt with two tablespoons of finely chopped basil, two tablespoons of grated parmesan, one clove of garlic (minced), a pinch of salt, and a pinch of ground black pepper. Set it aside until it’s time to serve the fritters.

Wash and dry the zucchini and cut the ends off. Then, grate the zucchini. I used the grating disc on a food processor as it’s much faster (it took me 30 seconds to grate all the zucchini). However, feel free touse a box grater (it will still be pretty fast – it should only take about 2-3 minutes).

Add 1 tsp of fine salt to the grated zucchini, give it a mix, and then transfer it to a sieve (over a large bowl), ideally covered with cheesecloth. The salt will help draw the moisture/water out of the zucchini. Let it sit for 10 minutes, and then squeeze the liquid out. It’s easier to do that with a cheesecloth but don’t worry if you
don’t have one! You can use the sieve (just press down on the zucchini over the sieve) or simply squeeze the zucchini with your hands (a smaller batch at a time).

Transfer the grated and drained zucchini to a large mixing bowl and add the remaining parmesan, the beaten eggs, cheddar cheese, finely chopped basil, lemon zest, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, and garlic powder or minced garlic clove. Give everything a mix with a spatula until well combined.

Add the flour and the baking powder and mix everything lightly with the spatula until the flour is incorporated.

Place a non-stick pan over medium heat on the stove, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and once the oil is shimmering/hot, add about 1/4 cup (or one ice cream scoop) of zucchini batter for each fritter to the pan.

Fry the zucchini fritters for about 4-5 minutes on the first side, then flip them and cover the pan with a lid and cook them for another 4-5 minutes. Adjust the heat as necessary to make sure they don’t burn and that you get the desired crispiness. Repeat the process until you’ve cooked all the fritters, and for each round of 3-4 zucchini fritters, use about 2 tbsp of olive oil.