Latkes, shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, flour and egg, often flavored with grated onion or garlic and seasoning and is traditional to Jewish cooking. I have experimented with various Paleo-friendly versions of a latke and having recently bought a garden-fresh pumpkin, I tried out a version with a combination of baby spinach and herbs and spices, to create a sandwich or bun base for a burger or breakfast eggs. This worked amazingly well and the blend of the cooked pumpkin (which I oven-roasted, then mashed) with egg, and the herbs and spices, produced initially a delicate pumpkin latke – which firmed up beautifully while shallow frying.
Pumpkin is a versatile vegetable, when cooked, it has the texture of potatoes but is lower in carbohydrates, and produces a satisfying meal accompaniement. Rich in beta-carotene in it’s antioxidant properties, which are converted to Vitamin A in our bodies.
These latkes or pumpkin cakes turned out pretty delicious and awesomely savoury tasting, and are a refreshing change to aubergine or mushrooms as a regular burger bun.
Ingredients
1½ cup cooked pumpkin, mashed (I roasted the pumpkin. You may steam it too)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or garlic paste
1 cup baby spinach
1 cayenne chilli (Optional)
¼-½ cup chopped fresh coriander and / or basil
1 egg, beaten
2 tblsp almond flour
Himalayan or Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil for shallow frying
Here’s How
- Add all the ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix until well combined.
- Wet your hands, gather up enough of the mixture to make a 1cm or so thick “bun” and mould into shape.
- Once all the mixture has been used up, and patties formed, lightly cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to two hours for the pumpkin cakes to firm up.
- When ready to cook, heat a large-non stick pan on medium stove top heat, lightly coating with the oil of choice. I used coconut oil and as it has a high frying point, it cooked the pumpkin cakes well.
- Once the oil begins to sizzle, keep the heat on medium and cook each pumpkin cake for about 4 minutes on each side, until the outside is golden brown. Do not flip over until each side is firmly cooked, as the mixture may crumble.
- Once cooked, remove onto absorbent kitchen towel and serve as desired. I ate them with a salad and used them as burger buns, as seen below.
Enjoy 
Pumpkin cakes served with salad
Home made chicken burger sandwiched between 2 Pumpkin cakes
