I Make This Italian Zucchini Five Times a Week! All the Neighbors Are Asking for My Mother's Recipe!

POLPETTE DI ZUCCHINE — the recipe, as I make it. Makes about 12. Serves 4. Everything in the video, in order, with the amounts. WHAT YOU NEED 2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb / 450 g) — medium, firm, heavy for their size 1 tsp fine salt (for drawing the water, not for seasoning) 1 large egg 1 slice stale bread, crusts off, soaked in 3 tbsp milk and squeezed out OR 1 medium potato, boiled and mashed while warm. One or the other, never both. 2 oz / 60 g pecorino, grated fine (any hard sharp grating cheese will do) 6 or 7 fresh mint leaves, torn by hand 1 small clove garlic, grated (optional) 1 tbsp breadcrumbs, only if the bowl still feels loose Olive oil, enough for a film across the pan Black pepper HOW I DO IT 1. Grate the zucchini on the LARGE holes of the box grater. Not the small holes, not the food processor. You want strands, not mush. 2. Put the strands in a colander, scatter the salt over, turn twice with your hand. Leave 10 to 15 minutes. You will hear the water start. 3. Pile them into a clean dish towel, gather the corners, and wring it out with both hands. Then open it and do it again. You should pull out close to half a cup. If your hands would rather not twist: put the strands in a sieve, set a small plate on top, and lean your weight on the plate. 4. Into a bowl: the squeezed zucchini, the egg, the soaked bread (or the potato), the pecorino, the torn mint, the garlic, a little pepper. Taste before you add any salt — most days you will not need any, because the cheese and the first salting have already done it. 5. If the mixture still feels loose, one tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Not flour. You took the water out, so there is nothing left to soak up. 6. Film of olive oil in a skillet, medium-high, a full minute to heat. Test it with a thread of the mixture — it should sizzle at once. 7. A heaping tablespoon for each one. Flatten it with the back of the spoon to about the thickness of your little finger. Four at a time, no more, or the pan goes cold. 8. 3 to 4 minutes on the first side, until the edge you can see has gone the color of good crust. Turn ONE time. 2 to 3 minutes more. 9. Lift them onto a rack or a plate in a SINGLE LAYER, not touching, never stacked. Salt them right then, while they are hot. Stacking them is how you lose the crust you just worked for. THE THREE THAT DECIDE IT Salt the strands and wait. Squeeze over a bowl so you see what came out. Do not stack them when they come out of the pan. Everything else is detail. KEEPING THEM They hold 3 days in the refrigerator. To bring them back: dry skillet, medium heat, 2 minutes a side. Not the microwave — the microwave undoes the crust. The mixture itself keeps a day, covered, in the refrigerator. It will weep overnight, so squeeze it again before you shape them. GOOD WITH: a squeeze of lemon, or a spoon of ricotta, or just as they are, standing at the counter, which is how most of mine get eaten. Now tell me how yours came out, and tell me whether your zucchini came from a farm stand or from the store this time of year. I read every one.