Freezer fritters

Corn fritters were a staple in our house growing up. Served with tomato sauce, they were the thing to cook when you weren’t hungry, usually after days spent at grandparents’ places stuffing our faces. The batter’s crunch and sweetness of the corn (or peas) is a match made in heaven. The trick is to add the veg while it’s frozen — it gets things all sticky and keeps the batter cold. Suitable for vegetarians. SERVES 4 PREP 5 mins COOK 25 mins

30g (⅓ cup) grated semi-soft cheese (see Notes; I used Manchego)

1 small zucchini, coarsely grated

75g (½ cup) self-raising flour

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

80ml (⅓ cup) milk

2 eggs, lightly whisked

300g (2 cups) frozen

corn or peas

Sea salt and cracked black

pepper, for seasoning

125ml (½ cup) vegetable oil,

for shallow frying

Avocado slices, lemon wedges

and tomato sauce, to serve

1 Place the cheese, zucchini, flour, most of the spring onion (keep some of the green back for serving) in a bowl and toss to coat. Add the milk, eggs and frozen veg, and stir to combine. The mixture will seem thick and cake-like. Season with salt and cracked black pepper.

2 Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add shallow quarter-cups of the fritter mix and cook, in batches, turning halfway, for 3—4 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with a piece of paper towel to drain excess oil, and continue with remaining mixture.

3 Serve the fritters scattered with remaining spring onion, avocado slices, lemon wedges and tomato sauce (see Notes).

NOTES Any semi-soft cheese works in these. Throw in some halloumi, paneer, tasty cheese or gruyère. You could also jazz it up with a poached egg and some bacon, as follows: Heat a tall saucepan or stockpot of water over high heat and bring to the boil. Add a good splash of vinegar, reduce heat to low and swirl pan with a wooden spoon. Quickly crack eggs into the centre of the swirling water. Increase heat to medium and don’t touch for 3 minutes.