Thanks to Micky from Simply Delish, Lambourn for sharing this popular Italian recipe:
Ingredients
Courgette flowers (you can also use marrow flowers) – suggest 3 per person
Batter*
100 gm Self Raising Flour
Salt & pepper
Very cold beer of your choice (lager is good as it has lots of bubbles)
Vegetable oil (good quality but not too light or it will burn)
*see below for alternative Yeast Batter recipe
Suggested fillings
Mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, olives, oregano, salt & pepper to taste. For extra flavour add chilli flakes or grated Parmesan.
Ricotta with chopped salami or ham; roasted peppers finely chopped; finely chopped and gently fried mushrooms or just add your favourite herbs and garlic.
Suggested Equipment
Mixing Bowl
2 forks
Frying pan (with heavy bottom) or a deep fat fryer
Plate
Kitchen roll
Instructions
- I don’t wash the flowers as this spoils them. If you have grown them organically they won’t need washing but do check inside for any insects.
- In your mixing bowl, put flour, salt, pepper to taste and slowly add the cold beer until you achieve a runny batter (pancake consistency – not too thick otherwise it will soak up all the oil and be stodgy)
- Chop all your filling ingredients finely, combine and stuff into flowers. Gently twist the top to hold in place.
- Put about ½ cm of vegetable oil in the frying pan and bring up to temperature – check by dropping a tiny bit of batter mix into the pan and when it sizzles as soon as it goes in, then it’s ready. Reduce the heat a little so that the fritters don’t burn before they are properly cooked.
- Dunk the flowers into the batter and coat. (Use one fork to put the fritters into the pan and the other to take them out once they are cooked so that you don’t get raw batter on your cooked fritters.)
- Gently put them into the pan and cook until golden brown all over.
- Drain on kitchen towel and keep warm if not eating straight away. I put them under a very low grill as they are best eaten warm. They are lovely sprinkled with course black pepper.
Serve as part of a tapas type meal or great as a starter with a tangy dip of your choice and the left over beer! Children enjoy these too and they count towards their 5 a day.
Yeast Batter
200gms strong plain flour
12 sachet dried yeast
1tblsp olive oil
12 tsp salt
Tepid water
Put all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add water until you get a sloppy, but not runny, consistency. Cover bowl with cling film and leave for an hour. You will notice small holes forming on the top of the batter (looks a little like crumpets). Dunk your flowers in and coat. These are definitely best done in a deep fryer so that they are totally immersed and can cook evenly but they can also be done in a frying pan with a good amount of good quality vegetable oil. Drain when golden brown and sprinkle with pepper if liked. Best served immediately to enjoy at their crispy best, but are also great cold if you enjoy things like cold pizza for breakfast!
Enjoy!
Author: Penny Post
Penny Post is a community notice board serving West Berkshire, Wantage, Swindon, Marlborough and surrounding areas so there
