Spaghetti Squash Fritters- Vegetarian "Crab Cakes"
I HATED leftovers as a child! I always felt like they never tasted fresh, and being the foodie that I am, I didn't want to have the same dish multiple times in one week. Once I started managing restaurants and cooking in professional kitchens, I realized how important it is to take the scraps and leftovers of your vegetables, meats, cheeses etc. and use them to create more dishes! Ultimately, if you throw good, useable leftovers in the garbage, you are throwing money in the garbage! This week I had a substantial amount of Spaghetti Squash leftover, so I got a little creative and created a delicious appetizer to bring to my friend's apartment for dinner. These fritters are crispy on the outside and soft and flavorful on the inside. The pleasantly stringy texture of the spaghetti squash and the flavors of the capers, sun dried tomatoes and breadcrumbs oddly make these little patties taste just like crab cakes! My friends kept insisting that I was lying to them and that they were crab cakes and not vegetable fritters! So if you are a vegetarian or have vegetarian guests, this is the perfect dish to serve! You can even make a "crab cake" sandwich by making a larger spaghetti squash patty, put it on a nice brioche bun with a cajun style aioli and top it with some mixed greens..now how delicious does that sound!
Ingredients-
1 Medium Spaghetti Squash
Canola Oil
5 Sun Dried Tomatoes chopped fine (you can use more if you'd like)
2 Small Cloves of Garlic Minced
Seasoned Breadcrumbs (about 1 cup sometimes you need a little more)
1/3 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2- 2 Tablespoons Capers
2 Eggs beaten
Flour (you just need a few Teaspoons for the mixture to hold together)
About 4-5 Large Fresh Basil Leaves Chiffonade (sliced into thin ribbons)
Salt & Pepper
Steps-
Preheat the oven to 400F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half vertically using a big chefs knife. Scoop out and discard the seeds from the middle of the squash and then drizzle the flesh with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place the cut side down onto a foil or parchment line sheet pan and roast in the oven about 35-45 minutes or until a fork can easily poke through the outer skin of the spaghetti squash.
When the squash is cooked, using a fork scrape the squash flesh into a bowl. It should fall into the bowl like spaghetti! Let it cool and set aside.
Once the spaghetti squash is cooled place in some paper towels or a clean kitchen towel and try to squeeze out any excess water that the squash naturally has.
Place the squash in a bowl and add the minced garlic, chopped sun dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese an capers. Add the 2 beaten eggs and a dash of salt and black pepper. Stir together until combined.
Add the seasoned breadcrumbs, about 1 Cup and stir together. Add about 2 Tablespoons of Flour and stir together. This will help to bind the mixture. If you try to fry them and they are not crisping up and are just falling apart, add a little more breadcrumbs and flour.
Coat the bottom of a skillet with Canola Oil and heat on medium heat. Test the temperature of the oil by placing a dot of the batter into the oil and if the oil sizzles around the batter, your mixture is ready. Scoop about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the mixture into you hands, make a ball, and flatten it out into a pancake shape. You want them about 1/3 inch thick. Place them in the pan with the hot oil and fry until golden brown and crusty on the bottom and then flip and brown the other side. Only fry a few at a time so they brown evenly and the oil temperature doesn't drop.
When they are cooked place them on paper towels to drain the excess oil. Serve with a dollop of the Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Crema! See below!
Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Crema-
Ingredients-
Plain Greek Yogurt
Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (you can also use regular pesto)
2 Large Basil Leaves Chiffonade
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Steps-
1. Mix together some Sun Dried Tomato Pesto with the Greek Yogurt, a drizzle of Olive Oil and the chopped Basil. Add a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper, and give it a taste! If you feel the flavor or color is too bland add more of the pesto! That is all there is too it!