Fennel frond and chickpea fritters

SERVES 4 // PREP TIME 30 MINS // COOK 20 MINS (PLUS STRAINING)

“These fritters also work well with blanched and finely chopped spinach added, if you have any you need to use up,” says McCaskill. Start this recipe one day ahead to strain the yoghurt.

2 cups (firmly packed) fennel fronds, finely chopped, plus extra to serve, bulb reserved for masterstock (see recipe p94)

250 gm stale bread, blitzed into breadcrumbs

100 gm Australian feta, crumbled

3 large eggs, beaten 1 cup (firmly packed) flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

35 gm (¼ cup) chickpea flour

2 long red chillies, finely chopped, tips reserved for dried chilli flakes (see recipe p97)

1 garlic clove, finely chopped 300 ml vegetable oil

LABNE

500 gm plain Greek yoghurt ¼ cup finely chopped mint ¼ tsp ground cumin

1 For labne, spoon yoghurt into a sieve lined with muslin, cheesecloth or a rinsed Chux cloth and place over a bowl.

Gather sides and knot corners together. Suspend muslin by feeding a wooden spoon through gaps in muslin just below the knot and hang over a deep bowl or saucepan. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours. Transfer labne to a bowl, add mint and cumin, season to taste, stir to combine. Reserve whey for cucumber recipe (see p97).

2 For fritters, combine fronds, breadcrumbs, feta, eggs, parsley, chickpea flour, chilli and garlic in a bowl. Season to taste. 3 Heat oil and 300ml spent citrus oil (see recipe p94) to 180C in a saucepan over medium heat. Spoon rounded tablespoons of mixture into hot oil (be careful, hot oil may spit) and deep-fry in batches, turning fritters once, until golden (3-5 minutes). Drain on paper towel.

4 Top fritters with fronds, season to taste with salt flakes and serve with labne.

Beer suggestion Pale ale.