I took a trip to Greece a couple of summers ago and one of the islands we visited was Santorini. While there we toured the island, ate amazing food, visited the mineral colored beaches, and we visited the Santorini Tomato Museum. Santorini is known for tomato production and almost every restaurant or cafe has a version of a tomato fritter on their menu. I picked up an original recipe from the museum while we were there, and since then I've made them a couple of times. It's a great way to use up tomatoes from your garden when you have a surplus, also a great way to get rid of older tomatoes that you wouldn't want to eat in a salad.
For the tomatoes in this, you want to season them for a bit with salt and garlic, then let them sit for awhile to pull out the water. Once you've removed a bunch of the liquid you want to rough chop, or pulse in a food processor, to keep the bite and texture of the tomatoes. From there you add scallions and herbs, bind it with flour and egg and lightly fry it in oil. The end result are light, crispy, and fluffy tomatoes cakes that burst with flavor.
As an added bonus, the salty, garlicky tomato water is a great liquid to add to soups, sauces, even cocktails if one is feeling so inclined. I like to fry the fritters for color then remove. Sometimes, if I've made them a little to big, the raw flour still needs to be cooked a bit. I generally finish them in an oven to ensure they are cooked through.
These are a great appetizer to make, or even to serve with soup. I made this particular batch to go with my Cacik, which is a Turkish yogurt and cucumber soup that pairs perfectly with the herb infused tomato fritter. Because I was serving them with my soup, I didn't make a sauce to go with them. A tzatziki sauce is a great accompaniment, which is part of the reason why I paired them with Cacik.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
Tomatoes, chopped 2 lb
Flour 1 cup, as needed
Baking Soda 2 tsp
Greek Basil*, chopped 3 sprigs
Mint, chopped 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 3 T, as needed
Garlic, minced 2 T
Scallions, sliced 3 T
Oil to fry as needed
*I brought home some basil seeds and grew some Greek basil. Feel free to substitute any type of basil you want
Method of Procedure
Chop tomatoes and mix with salt and garlic. Let sit in a bowl for at least one one.
Strain liquid off tomatoes, you should reserve the liquid to use in other applications.
Mix flour and baking soda in a separate bowl.
Put your tomatoes into a food processor with basil, scallions, mint, extra virgin olive oil, and pepper.
Pulse lightly to chop, do not puree.
Add dry ingredients to the tomato mixture and combine.
Season to taste.
Bring your frying oil to 350 and fry until golden.
Place on a rack and let drain.
If you fritters are still doughy, finish in the oven until cooked through.
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