Vegetable fritters are an ingeniously tasty way of getting vegetables in you. They’re basically a pancake batter that’s crammed with whichever vegetables you happen to have lying around. I’ve chosen courgettes and spring onions because of their fresh taste and the fact that courgettes grate really well (though you do have to squeeze the moisture out before cooking them).
These are ready to start frying in about 10 minutes and are also gluten-free, so everybody can enjoy them. They are great to have with rice, or even some bread and humous. I had mine this way with the addition of some stuffed vine leaves Pan-fried tomatoes give these a real Mediterranean feel, so it’s worth considering this in your choice of accompaniments.
Prep time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 6 minutes per batch, plus about 8 minutes for the tomatoes.
Serves 4.
Gluten-Free
Ingredients:
For the Batter:
200g chickpea flour
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
Pinch black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp garlic puree
300ml cold water
For the Veggies:
2 courgettes, washed
2-3 spring onions, thinly sliced
A few sprigs fresh dill, chopped
2 tbsp flavourless oil per batch for frying
For the Basil and Dill Dressing:
30g fresh basil leaves
30g fresh dill
2 tsp garlic puree
10g vegan parmesan, grated
30g chopped hazelnuts
¼ tsp salt
200ml olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon
To Serve:
3-4 Large tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 tsp dried oregano
Pinch salt
A few sprigs of fresh dill.
Method:
First make the batter buy putting all the batter ingredients, apart from the water, into a mixing bowl. Add the water gradually, whisking the whole time to prevent lumps from forming.
Grate the two courgettes with a standard grater, then put the gratings onto a clean tea towel. Squeeze them out over the sink to get rid of as much moisture as possible, then add them to the batter. Add the spring onions and dill also, then stir until combined. Set aside until ready to cook.
Now make the basil and dill dressing by putting all of the dressing ingredients into a blending jug and blending until completely smooth. Pour the dressing into a container and chill until ready to use.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan, until quite hot, then spoon 2 tablespoons of the courgette batter into the pan to make one fritter. Do this three or four times, leaving room between each fritter so that you can easily turn them over (I comfortable got four in my pan).
Cook the fritters for 3-4 minutes each side on a medium high heat, until they have browned nicely, then transfer each batch to a low oven to keep warm. Repeat this until all of the batter is gone.
To cook the tomatoes, heat a little more oil in the pan and fry the tomatoes for 6-8 minutes, until they start to char (they will spit quite a bit during this, so you might want to use a splatter guard to protect your cooker top). Add the dried oregano and salt to the tomatoes about 1 minute before the end of cooking.
To serve, put 4 of the fritters onto a plate and drizzle over the dressing, serve some of the tomatoes on the side and add a sprig of dill.
