A friend of our Weekly Dish radio show heard us talking on the show about zucchini and she shared a recipe for “zucchini tots” that she makes with her garden zucchini. Several listeners made the tots and tweeted us pictures so I thought I would take a stab at the recipe for The Jason Show, and it’s a winner. I didn’t have mini-muffin tins and I added a few ingredients and a ranchy sauce to the original recipe that was inspired by Jeanine Gatzke’s tweet.
Zucchini Tots with Ranch Sauce
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
Zucchini Tots
1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated on a box grater
1 tsp kosher salt
1 egg
1 shallot, finely diced
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp finely chopped basil
1 tsp cracked black pepper
Ranch Sauce
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp milk, buttermilk, half and half, or cream
3 tsp. fresh dill or 2 tsp dried dill weed
1 garlic clove, minced or grated on a microplane
1 Tbsp onion, finely minced or grated on a microplane
1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Zucchini Tots
Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
Add the salt to the grated zucchini and allow it to sit for 10 minutes to draw the water out of the zucchini. Then squeeze the zucchini in a clean kitchen towel or a paper towel to remove as much of the moisture as possible.
In a medium bowl combine the drained zucchini and the remaining ingredients. Fill the muffin cups to almost full, then press them down to get a smooth top.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
Ranch Sauce
Combine ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
