Courgette and ricotta fritters with a lemon-dressed salad

Serves - 4

You’ll need

• 3 medium courgettes
• 1 tsp sea salt, plus extra to season
• 250g ricotta
• 2 eggs
• 75g plain flour
• 40g Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, finely grated
• Small handful mint, finely chopped
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Black pepper
• Olive oil, for frying

For the lemon-dressed salad
• 1 little gem lettuce, or a few handfuls of mixed leaves
• 1 small shallot, very finely sliced
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get the courgettes sorted

Coarsely grate the courgettes into a colander, sprinkle over the teaspoon of salt and give them a toss. Leave them for 10–15 minutes to soften and release some of their water. Courgettes hold on to more moisture than you think, and fritters are much happier when you deal with that early.

2. Make the salad dressing

While the courgettes sit, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper in a large bowl. Add the shallot and leave it there to soften slightly while you get on with everything else.

3. Mix the fritter batter

Squeeze the courgettes really well in a clean tea towel or your hands to get rid of as much liquid as possible, then tip them into a bowl. Add the ricotta, eggs, flour, Parmesan, mint, parsley, lemon zest and plenty of black pepper. Mix until everything comes together into a thick, spoonable batter. If it looks a little loose, add another spoonful of flour rather than hoping for the best.

4. Start frying

Heat a generous slick of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Spoon heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the pan and flatten them lightly into fritter shapes. Cook in batches for 3–4 minutes on each side until golden and crisp at the edges. Do not crowd the pan or they will steam and soften rather than fry properly.

5. Keep them warm

As the fritters are cooked, transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper or a tray in a low oven to keep warm. They should be crisp outside, soft in the middle, and looking very much like something worth getting to the table quickly.

6. Finish the salad

Just before serving, add the lettuce or mixed leaves to the bowl with the dressing and toss gently so everything is lightly coated.

7. Serve

Pile the fritters onto plates or a serving dish and serve with the lemon-dressed salad alongside. Very good warm, very good with an extra squeeze of lemon, and very hard to stop picking at straight from the pan.

A couple of helpful notes

- Squeezing the courgettes properly is the main thing here. Skip that, and the fritters will be far more fragile than charming.
- A little crumbled feta works nicely in place of some of the ricotta if you want a slightly saltier finish.
- These are best eaten fresh, but leftovers can be warmed in a hot oven to bring back a bit of their crispness.