A delightful dish to serve as a starter or an accompaniment. If you are able to get hold of courgette flowers – perhaps if you grow them in your garden – then prepare yourself for a very special treat. They can be cooked in the same way and are even nicer.
preparation time 20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ chilling
cooking time about 15 minutes
serves 6
Ingredients
40g (11⁄2 oz) butter
50 g (2 oz) fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
175 g (6 oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon fine salt
250 ml (8 fl oz) light ale
2 egg whites
vegetable oil for deep-frying
750 g (11⁄2 lb) firm courgettes, cut into slices 5 mm (1⁄4 inch) thick
1 Melt the butter gently and then stir in the Parmesan cheese.
2 Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Stir in the beer and then add the melted butter and Parmesan mixture. Using a whisk, mix to form a smooth batter. Chill for 2 hours.
3 Just before you are ready to cook the fritters, whisk the egg whites until they form firm peaks and fold them into the batter.
4 Heat the oil in a deep saucepan. Dip the courgette slices into the batter and fry them a few at a time for 3–5 minutes, until golden brown.
5 Remove from the oil, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the rest of the courgettes. Serve immediately.
If you don’t have a thermostatically controlled deep-fat fryer, remember the following guidelines for deep-frying: don’t fill the pan more than a third full with oil; be sure to dry off any excess moisture from whatever you are frying or it will make the oil splutter; test the temperature of the oil by putting in a small cube of bread, which should brown in about 1 minute; fry in small batches so as not to overcrowd the pan.