Courgette "burgers" with feta cheese and spiced red peppers sauce

A delicious Summer meze dish to enjoy along with ouzo, beer or wine! Of course we are talking about vegetarian "burgers" here but still the taste is excellent! There are many versions based on courgettes to create some delicious dishes enjoying this popular Summer vegetable and definitely this is one of those! It is always better to use fresh peppers and roast them yourselves to make the sauce but it is not a crime to use store-bought ones in jar

Recipe of Nicki Mytarea,

from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 6-8 people)

For the "burgers":
½Kg of tender courgettes, coarsely grated
350gr. of feta cheese, grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 Spring onions, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, grated
2 tbsp of fresh spearmint leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3-4 tbsp of all-purpose flour
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
salt
pepper
olive oil

frying oil

For the peppers sauce:
3 Florina red peppers (or red bell peppers)
1-2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 pinch of ground cumin
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Method:

Transfer the grated courgettes in a colander, lightly season with salt and leave for about 10-15 minutes to drain. Then squeeze well with your hands to discard any excess liquids.

Transfer the courgettes in a large bowl and add the feta cheese, both onions, the eggs, a little bit of salt, plenty of pepper, the nutmeg, the herbs and the flour. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon well so to blend together, cover the bowl with some cling film and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.

In the meantime prepare the peppers sauce. Bake the peppers under hot grill or in the oven at 200°C, until their skin becomes black in various places.

When they are easy to handle with bare hands, peel them, transfer in a bowl and mash them with a fork completely. Add in the bowl the rest of the sauce ingredients and mix very well. Leave in the fridge for later.

Take the courgettes mixture out of the fridge and if necessary add some more flour to firm the mixture accordingly. Take some quantity in your hands and shape into medium size burgers.

Fry the burgers in medium heat on both sides, until they become golden brown. Transfer with a slotted spoon on kitchen paper to drain the excess oil and serve immediately accompanying with the peppers sauce.