Parmesan Crackerthin Crumbed Zucchini Fries

Serves 4 as a side. Prep 20 minutes, including 15 minutes salting. Cook 20 minutes.

1. Cut the zucchini into batons about the thickness of your little finger.
2. Toss them with the fine salt in a colander and leave them over the sink for 15 minutes.
3. Heat the oven to 220C and put a wire rack inside a baking tray.
4. Crush the crackers in a sealed bag with a rolling pin until they are the texture of coarse sand.
5. Mix the crushed crackers with the grated parmesan, the oregano and plenty of black pepper.
6. Pat the zucchini completely dry with a tea towel, pressing rather than rubbing.
7. Set out three shallow bowls: flour, beaten egg, then the crumb.
8. Roll each baton through the flour, then the egg, then press it firmly into the crumb.
9. Lay them on the rack with a finger gap between each one so the air can get around them.
10. Drizzle or spray with the olive oil and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the crumb is deep gold.
11. Stir the mustard through the mayonnaise while they bake and season it with pepper.
12. Serve them straight from the oven, because they are best in the first ten minutes.

The rack, and the air fryer question

The wire rack is not optional. Zucchini sitting flat on a tray steams underneath and you get three crisp sides and one wet one. Raised on a rack the hot air gets all the way round, and the salting step means there is much less water to drive off in the first place.

An air fryer works and it is faster, but treat any time you read as a guide, including this one. Ours take roughly 12 minutes at 200C in a single layer, turned once, and every machine is different. Go by the look instead: they are done when the crumb has gone from pale sand to deep gold and a baton holds its shape when you lift it by one end. Crowd the basket and you will steam them, which is the same failure as the flat tray.

Common questions

How do I stop crumbed zucchini going soggy?

Take the water out before the crumb goes on. Salt the cut batons for 15 minutes, then pat them properly dry, and you have removed most of the moisture that would otherwise steam its way out through the coating. After that it is a dry crumb, a hot oven at 220C, a wire rack and space between the pieces. The last mistake is timing: they are a side that waits for the table, not the other way round, so cook them last and carry them straight out.

Can I make these in an air fryer?

Yes, in a single layer, and the numbers are a guide rather than a rule. Around 12 minutes at 200C with one turn works in ours. Because the basket is small you will be doing two or three batches for four people, so keep the finished ones on a rack in a low oven rather than stacked on a plate where they sweat. The salting and drying steps matter more in an air fryer, not less.

Can I use gluten free crackers instead?

The crumb, yes. Both gluten free crackerthins swap in one for one, and being rice and tapioca based they crush finer and toast a shade darker, so check them a couple of minutes early. To make the whole dish gluten free you also have to replace the plain flour in the first coat with a gluten free flour and check the mayonnaise, because the crumb is only one of three layers. Say what you have changed when you put them down rather than assuming the swap did all the work.

VPC Crackerthins Parmesan Cheese is $2.95 for 100g, which makes it one of the cheapest things in the Valley Produce Company range and a cracker that also belongs on a board, as which cracker goes with which cheese explains. The rest of the shelf is under crackers and snacking. If you want the same crushed snack trick on a protein, truffle chip crumbed chicken is the other one, and the rest of the table is in Christmas side dishes. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.