Cauliflower, chickpea & feta fritters

Introducing my new favourite fritter; I first made this recipe ages ago and never returned to it. Not sure why as it’s a good un! Anyway, here it is making up for lost time as it’s back with a bang of flavour! Serve with roasted new potatoes, homemade slaw or a green salad. This recipe includes two dips as they’re both very quick to make, but you can choose one or the other. You could also just serve with Sriracha sauce, instead of making it into a mayo.

Ingredients

Makes 10-12 fritters

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained

• 1 small cauliflower, weighing about 850g leaves removed

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp coriander

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tin 400g chickpeas

• Handful of parsley, chopped

• 140g feta, crumbled

• 4 tbsp plain flour

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 egg

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil approx

  Lemon yoghurt

• 8 tbsp yoghurt

• Juice & zest of 1 lemon

• Pinch of salt

Sriracha mayo

• 1 ½ tbsp sriracha sauce

• 6 tbsp mayonnaise

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc. Place the cauliflower florets on a large baking tray and spread so they have a little room between each one, use two trays if any are touching. If you don’t leave enough space around vegetables when you’re roasting them then they will steam and go soggy rather than browned and caramelised.

• Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil over the cauliflower and then sprinkle over the spices and a sprinkle of sea salt, mix well. Roast for 15 minutes and then turn and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

• Set aside to cool and turn the oven down to about 80ºc - you’ll need it to keep the batches of fritters warm later.

• Next drain the chickpeas and dry well with kitchen roll. Blitz in a food processor for a few seconds, so they resemble breadcrumbs.

• Chop the cooled cauliflower into small pieces; you don’t want big chunks as the fritters won’t stick together.

• Put the chickpeas, parsley, crumbled feta, flour and salt into a large bowl and mix well. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and then add to the mix.

• I use a large ice cream scoop to measure and shape each fritter, but you could do it with a big spoon or with scales - aim for about 70-80g each.

• Line a baking tray with parchment and put the raw fritters on it as you make them.

• Make the dressings before you cook the fritters.

• Heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and spread around before adding the first fritters. You’ll need to cook them in batches so the pan doesn’t get over crowded; I do 4-5 each time and I usually need to add about ½ tbsp of oil for each new batch so they don’t stick. Cook for 5 minutes each side on a medium heat until golden brown.

• Put each batch on to another large tray and place in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest.

TIP

• Once you’ve shaped the raw mix, you can freeze the fritters at this stage. Find a tray or plate that will fit in your freezer and line it with baking parchment, space out the fritters on it and put in the freezer. Allow to harden for about 1 hour and then bing them off with a knife and transfer to a bag. This way they won’t stick together in a big lump. Defrost thoroughly before cooking.

Roasted red pepper & tomato salsa

This is a really versatile salsa that works with lots of different dishes, I made it to go with butternut squash and leek fritters last week, but it would also be great with mini roasties, homemade tortilla chips, avocado on sourdough toast or roasted aubergine slices. It would also work really well with griddled fish or chicken if you want a non-veggie option.

Photo was taken last week on the one occasion that I’ve seen the sun recently! Where’s all the bright autumn sunshine gone? Bit fed up with the bloody lockdown fog in Leeds! Anyway this salsa is an antidote to the weather, bringing some colour and a good hit of flavour into your kitchen.

Ingredients

• 2 red peppers

• 1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 350g baby plum tomatoes, halved

• 1 large garlic clove

• 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 2 tsp red wine vinegar

• Small handful of chopped parsley or coriander

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc

• Put the tomatoes and garlic on a tray and coat with approx 2 tsp olive or rapeseed oil. Roast for 20 minutes, checking half way. 

• Put the peppers on a tray lined with tin foil and place under a hot grill. Allow each side to blacken, but not char. Turn about every 4-5 minutes until the skin of every side is black. This should take about 10-12 minutes in total. Once they’re done, wrap the tin foil around the peppers and allow to cool.

• Peel the skin off the peppers and remove all the seeds. Chop roughly into 1 cm dice and drain the juice from the peppers into a bowl.

• Add 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, squeeze out the roasted garlic from it’s skin and mash into the oil, then pour in the red wine vinegar and salt, mixing well.

• Add the tomatoes, red peppers and whichever herbs you’re using.

Butternut squash & leek fritters with lemon yoghurt

This recipe came about after having a tub of roasted butternut squash that had been sitting in the fridge for a couple of days. I was originally going to make leek fritters using a recipe by Smitten Kitchen, but having seen the squash I decided to adapt it a bit and it worked really well. The firm texture of the squash made the fritters bind together well whilst adding a sweet nutty taste; I also added some harissa for heat and flavour.

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, approx 800g unpeeled - you need 500g once roasted

• 2 large leeks, approx 600g whole, not chopped

• 1.5 tsp ground harissa spice blend

• 4 tbsp flour

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1 large egg

Lemon yoghurt

• 200ml Greek yoghurt

• Juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc and follow the instructions for cooking the butternut squash here (using harissa instead of cumin). Set aside to cool and then chop into 1cm cubes.

• Reduce the oven temperature to 80ºc so you can keep your batches of fritters warm later.

• While the squash is roasting, quarter the leeks length ways leaving about an inch or so that is still attached at the whiter root end. Rinse the sliced darker green end to remove any dirt.

• Next cut the leek in 1/2cm slices and steam for 6-8 minutes they should still have a little bite.

• Put the leeks into a muslin cloth or clean tea towel and squeeze out as much water as you can. You may need to let them cool a little before you do this, or wear rubber gloves!

• Put all the ingredients, except the egg, into a large bowl and stir well. Add the salt and double check the seasoning by tasting a pinch of the mix and if it’s ok then add the egg and mix well to combine.

• I use a large ice cream scoop to measure and shape each fritter, but you could do it with a big spoon and scales - aim for about 80g each.

• Put a sheet of parchment on a baking tray and line up the raw fritters as you make them. Now you can either freeze or put some in the fridge in an air tight container if you don’t want to cook them all. See note on freezing below.

• Once they are all ready. Heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil in large frying pan. You’ll need to cook the fritters in batches so the pan doesn’t get over crowded; I do 4/5 each time (or they’re hard to turn) and I usually need to add about 1/2 tbsp of oil for each new batch so they don’t stick.

• Cook for approx 5 minutes each side on a medium heat until golden brown.

• Place each batch on a large tray and put them in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest.

• Mix the ingredients for the lemon yoghurt while the fritters are cooking.

TIP

• Serve with a green salad, homemade slaw, griddled halloumi or a poached egg.

• To freeze: find a tray or plate that will fit in your freezer and line it with baking parchment. Space out the fritters and put in the freezer for about an hour, allowing them to harden and then transfer to a bag. This way they won’t stick together in a big lump and you can defrost however many you need.