Fritters will have you coming back for more

ILIKE to serve these more-ish fritters with a dressed garden salad and oven-roasted tomatoes, poached eggs and bacon for a weekend brunch or as an accompaniment to a barbecue lunch as they can also be cooked on a flat plate.

Pumpkin and provolone fritters

Makes 12 fritters

INGREDIENTS: 500g peeled and seeded pumpkin, cut into 2cm pieces ◗ 2 tbs olive oil ◗ 4 eggs ◗ ½ cup (30g) sliced shallots ◗ ½ red onion, thinly sliced ◗ ¼ cup flat leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped ◗ 1 cup (100g) grated provolone piccantino – a sharp cheddar would work just as well ◗ ½ cup (35g) pecorino pepato – peppered hard sheep’s milk cheese or you can use parmesan ◗ 50g plain flour ◗ sea salt and freshly ground black pepper ◗ ¼ cup olive oil for frying

METHOD: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the pumpkin on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, then bake until the pumpkin is cooked but not too soft. Cool for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl add the roast pumpkin, chopped shallots, red onion, parsley, provolone and parmesan. Sprinkle over the flour and toss to cover all the ingredients. Whisk the eggs and pour over the pumpkin, season with salt and pepper and gently mix the ingredients so that the pumpkin pieces stay intact and the flour is just moistened with the eggs.

Heat a frying pan over moderate temperature. Add the oil and when it heats up a little place ¼ of a cup of mixture for one fritter in the pan. You should be able to fit 3-4 fritters at a time. With the back of your egg flip lightly press down on the fritter. Cook for 2 minutes each side until golden and firm to touch.