Stuffed courgette flowers
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- More effort
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 8 courgette flowers, with small courgette attached
- sunflower oil, for frying
For the batter
- 1 large egg
- 100g plain flour
- pinch bicarbonate of soda
- 200ml iced water
For the filling
- 250g tub ricotta
- 150g block soft goat's cheese
- zest 1 lemon
- ½ red chilli, finely chopped
- small handful mint leaves, chopped
For the dressing
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- small handful mint leaves, finely chopped
Method
- STEP 1
To make the batter, whisk the egg, flour and bicarb together in a wide bowl. Gradually pour in the iced water, whisking continuously, until you have a smooth batter the consistency of double cream. Set aside.
- STEP 2
In a separate bowl, beat all the filling ingredients together with some seasoning until well mixed. To make the dressing, mix all the ingredients in a third bowl with some seasoning and set aside.
- STEP 3
Gently open up each flower and remove the stamen if there is one. Place spoonfuls of filling inside. Close the flower, twisting the ends of the petals to seal. Heat a deep-fryer to 180C. (If you don’t have a deep-fryer, see right.) Working in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan, dip the flowers in the batter and fry for 2 mins, then use a slotted spoon to carefully flip them and fry for another 2 mins until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and leave in a warm place while you fry the rest. Sprinkle with a little salt and serve 2 flowers on each plate with a circle of dressing around the outside of the plate.
