Courgette and halloumi fritters

These featherlight fritters are inspired by a some memorable courgette and feta fritters I ate at Frae in Holywood earlier this year. I’ve made a lot of courgette fritters over the years, but I usually make them more like pancakes, these ones were light and airy and inspired me to up my courgette fritter game. The are crispy on the outside and soft and airy in the middle - the addition of egg whites folded into the batter. The grated halloumi adds an unctuous cheesy flavour, but alongside the mint means they tastes fresh and light too. There is a small quantity of wheat flour in the fritter , but if you wanted to you could replace with a gluten free flour

Serves 4-6 people

500g courgettes
225g halloumi
2 eggs, separated
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 lemon, zest only
20g mint, leaves picked off the stalks and finely sliced
50g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and black pepper
Sunflower or vegetable oil, for deep frying 

To serve (optional):
200ml Greek yoghurt
A generous pinch chilli flakes (I like to use Aleppo pepper)

1. Grate the courgettes on the rough side of a box grater. Add ½ teaspoon salt to the courgettes and mix well with your hands, massaging the salt into the grated courgette. Put the courgette into a sieve or a colander over a bowl and leave to drain for 30 minutes.

2. After 30 minutes use your hands to squeeze as much of the remaining liquid as you can out the courgette and put the drained courgette in a large mixing bowl. Grate the halloumi on the rough side of the box grater and add this to the courgette.

3. Add the egg yolks, sliced spring onions, lemon zest and ½ of the sliced mint leaves to the courgette and halloumi and mix well. Stir in the flour and baking powder, being careful not to over-mix. Taste and then season with salt and black pepper. You may not need too much salt as the halloumi is salty.

4. Put the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk to soft peaks with a hand whisk or an electric whisk. Alternatively, you can do this in the bowl of a stand mixer.

5. Take 1/3 of the egg white and mix it into the courgette and halloumi mix. This will lighten the mixture. Then add the next 1/3 of egg whites and fold in gently. Repeat with the final 1/3 of egg whites.

6. Fill a wok or wide, deep saucepan ½ full sunflower oil*. Put the oil over a medium-high heat and heat to 180°C. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer then put the end of the wooden spoon into the oil, if bubbles form quickly (but not furiously) around the end of the wooden spoon then the oil is ready for frying.

7. Use a tablespoon to gently drop dollops of the mixture into the hot oil**. Fry for a couple of minutes on each side until golden and delicious. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper before serving immediately or keep them warm in a low oven for a few minutes before serving. You can cook a few fritters at a time in the oil, but don’t over-crowd the pan.

8. To serve, spread some yoghurt on individual plates or a sharing platter, pile the fritters on top and sprinkle over the chilli flakes and the remaining sliced mint.
    

*The fritters can, alternatively, be fried in a deep-fat fryer or shallow fried with a generous slick of oil in the bottom of the frying pan.

**If you want to be fancy you can try quenelling the batter, which means using two tablespoons to shape the batter into a smooth oval shape before dropping it into the oil to cook.