Close your eyes and let yourself be captured by the fragrance of these plant based balls, typical of Greek cuisine. Today we propose two really tasty recipes, zucchini balls and Santorini balls with lots of fresh tomatoes! No meat for these balls but only vegetables and aromatic herbs for a dish that is ideal as an appetizer but also as a main course served with a fresh seasonal salad. As a cooking method we chose frying, but this shouldn't scare you. A good fried food prepared every now and then helps the liver and stimulates it to work better (Aufiero, the nutritional and therapeutic role of food).
Ingredients for zucchini balls
500 grams of zucchini
50 grams of feta cheese
5 zucchini flowers (optional)
1 shallot
Dill
Mint
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 eggs
Wholemeal breadcrumbs
Semi-wholemeal spelt flour
Oil for frying
Ingredients for Santorini balls
500 grams of ripe tomatoes
2 chopped onions
Mint
Sea salt
Black pepper
Semi-wholemeal spelt flour
Oil for frying
Preparation of zucchini balls
Chop the shallot, the mint and the dill. Rinse the zucchini and cut them into julienne strips. Clean the zucchini flowers very gently using a cloth, remove the pistil and cut the flowers into pieces. In a bowl mix the zucchini, the zucchini flowers and the feta crushed with a fork, add mint, dill and shallot, add the eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper. Then pour as much breadcrumbs as needed to obtain a thick mixture. With your hands form the balls, a little flattened, and pass them in the flour. Finally, fry the balls in plenty of hot oil. Drain the balls and dry the excess grease with absorbent paper.
Preparation of Santorini balls
Finely chop a sprig of mint. Wash and cut the tomatoes into small pieces, put the tomatoes in a strainer so that they lose some of their liquid. In a large bowl, pour the tomatoes, the chopped onions and the mint. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, mix the ingredients. Add as much flour as needed to obtain a soft and compact mixture. With the help of your hands, shape the balls slightly larger than a walnut and flatten them slightly. Fry the balls in plenty of hot oil. Finally, drain the balls on absorbent paper to remove excess grease.
