Zucchini Pancakes (GF)

Blog #15 for the vegan MoFo 2010 challenge!

I have fond memories in my childhood of going to Pittsburgh in the summer for a week to visit my great Aunt and other extended family members. My Mom, grandma (also known as Ma), Aunt Marcia, and several cousins used to join us there. My Aunt lived in an old city row house in the section of Pittsburgh known as Bloomfield. It was known for being the Italian section of the city. I have so many wonderful memories with my family. This was the Italian side of the family, so good food was always present and delicious! My great Aunt and great Grandma used to make gnocchi, homemade sauce, polenta, pizzels, aglio oglio, and many other special dishes that came from my ancestors in Italy.

One of my favorites were zucchini pancakes. It wasn't really a pancake, it was more like a zucchini blob. It was a tasty blob though! It had flour, eggs, zucchini, parmesan, milk/water, and spices. I used to help my great Aunt make them and they always remind me of her when I think of them. She passed away last Christmas.

I wanted to have them again and thought that it would be easy to veganize the recipe. However, when I learned I had to be GF, I thought that possibility of that was gone. Then I came across a fellow Vegan MoFo blogger named Mandee, from Australia. She runs a great little blog called Cupcake Kitteh. And guess what? She had a recipe for zucchini pancakes! I was so inspired by her blog and decided to use her recipe with several changes to remind me of the zucchini cakes I grew up with.

Following guidelines from her recipe, I tripled the portion because I wanted leftovers for lunch for me and John. I added a bit more liquid than her recipe called for and left out the salt. My additions included pepper and a pinch of Italian spices (basil, oregano, and parsley). I also added about a tablespoon of vegan parmesan.

The result reminded me so much of my childhood. The flavor took me back to a Pittsburgh summer, sitting around the kitchen table with family. I was in love with the pancakes and so was John. We both agreed that this recipe would come back in our dinner menus. I am excited to share this recipe with my Mom because I think she would enjoy it as well. I was pleased with Mandee's use of garbanzo bean flour. It gave the eggy flavor that I remembered from the ones I enjoyed as a child.

Goodbye great Aunt Sue- the happy and loving memories of you will live on in our kitchen in a vegan, gluten free way!