Classic dish, new form. The good news is this latke needs no “glue” in the form of eggs and flour. When tightly wrapped it self-adheres.
makes 4-5 latkes
INgredients
1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 green zucchini
1 yellow squash
3 leaves Trevisano
1 large onion (red or yellow)
1 large apple (any variety but Granny Smith is especially good)
4-6 Tablespoons safflower oil
a few pinches salt
Process
Wash the carrot, parsnip, zucchini, yellow squash, Trevisano and apple by immersing each of them separately in water.
Core the apple and slice it horizontally (through the wide part of the apple, not through the stem); cut about 6 discs and set aside. Heat a stainless steel skillet for about 30 seconds. When it is hot, add about 1 -2 Tablespoons of safflower oil. Then fry the apple slices until they are lightly browned on both sides.
Dredge them on a brown paper bag and set them aside.
Use a good peeler to peel wide strips of the carrot, parsnip zucchini and yellow squash. Peel the skin off and then continue to peel the strips in the same spot. The more you peel, the flatter and easier it is to get wide, flat strips. Peel about 5-10 strips each from the carrot, parsnip, zucchini and yellow squash. Set them aside.
Slice the onion, cutting into the bulging round center of the bulb (not through the roots and stalk); slice the onion into about 8 quarter-inch-thick pieces. Separate them so you have 8 or more raw onion rings. Set them aside.
Roll up the latkes: begin with the zucchini: take a strip and roll it up; when you reach the end you should see a spiral shape. Wrap a carrot strip around the zucchini. Next wrap a strip of yellow squash around the carrot.
Now add a parsnip strip, wrapping it around the yellow squash. Layer another strip of zucchini + carrot + yellow squash + parsnip. Continue adding layers until the spire is at least three inches in diameter, but could be larger.
Cut a Trevisano leaf in half, lengthwise. Use the Trevisano leaf to encase the whole roll.
Look for an onion ring of about the same diameter as the roll. Place the rolled-up spiral inside of the onion ring. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Repeat this process.
Fry them: On a medium flame, heat a stainless steel skillet for about 30 seconds. Add 3-4 Tablespoons safflower oil and heat for another 30 seconds. Place each spiral in the pan and allow to cook on one side.
When the onion’s edges begin to shrivel and turn slightly brown (about 4 minutes) use a spatula to carefully flip each latke. Cook it for another 4-5 minutes and then carefully remove from pan. Serve on a fried apple disc. Garnish with grated daikon or grated green radish (no, it is not wasabi!), as shown here.
©Nancy Wolfson-Moche 2014
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