COURGETTE FLOWERS FILLED WITH PEAS, DILL AND MINT
Lots of good fruit and vegetable markets will sell small boxes of courgette flowers – they’re a special part of the plant. You can fill these dainty yellow florets with whatever you like, but I find this simple filling of garden peas and mint is pretty hard to match.
Preparation 35 minutes Cooking about 20 minutes Makes 8-12
20G UNSALTED BUTTER
2 SPRING ONIONS, TRIMMED AND THINLY SLICED 1 GARLIC CLOVE, GRATED OR FINELY CHOPPED 250G PODDED OR FROZEN PEAS
A DASH OF BOILING WATER
25G SOFT GOAT’S CHEESE
1 SMALL HANDFUL OF MINT, LEAVES PICKED AND RIBBONED
1 SMALL HANDFUL OF DILL, FINELY CHOPPED ABOUT 8-12 GOOD-LOOKING COURGETTE FLOWERS SUNFLOWER OIL, FOR DEEP-FRYING
A SQUEEZE OF LEMON, TO SERVE
FLAKY SEA SALT, TO SERVE 50G EACH OF PLAIN FLOUR AND CORNFLOUR
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Set a medium pan over a gentle heat. Add the butter and, when it’s melted and bubbling away, add the spring onions and the garlic. Cook, stirring regularly, for 4-5 minutes, or until soft but not coloured. Add the peas, along with a dash of boiling water, and cook for a further few minutes, until just tender. Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of a food processor.
Add the goat’s cheese and give the mixture a few pulses until you have a thick, coarse purée.
Stir through the mint and dill and season to taste. Transfer the pea purée to a bowl and allow to cool.
Prepare the flowers by very gently pulling back the petals of each one. If the stamen is in the way, you can snap this out. Place 1 large teaspoonful of pea purée into the centre of each flower and then close up the petals, encasing the pea mixture. Pop the stuffed flowers in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them.
To make the batter, combine the flour, cornflour and a good pinch of sea salt, then whisk in about 150ml water until well combined.
To cook, place a large pan on a high heat and add the oil so it comes 5cm up the pan side. It’s hot enough when a cube of bread turns golden in 40-50 seconds.
When the oil is hot, turn the stuffed flowers in the batter and lower 2-4 carefully into the hot oil at a time (don’t overcrowd the pan). Fry each batch for about 2 minutes, until lightly golden and crisp, then remove from the oil and set aside to drain on kitchen paper while you make the next batch. Repeat until you’ve cooked all the flowers. Serve straightaway with a squeeze of lemon and some flaky sea salt.
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pestle, crush them to a relatively fine texture. Tip all but a pinch of spice into the bowl with the cucumber mixture. (Reserve the pinch for sprinkling over the top of the raita at the end.)
Toast the mustard seeds just as you toasted the cumin and coriander seeds, but don’t crush them. Just add them straight to the cucumber mixture – again holding a pinch back for later.
Add the yogurt to the bowl along with the prepared herbs and stir it all through the cucumber so everything is thoroughly combined. Spoon the raita into a suitable serving bowl. Scatter the top of the dip with the chilli slices and the additional mint and coriander leaves, then sprinkle over the reserved crushed and whole seeds and the sweet paprika. Trickle with the remaining olive oil before serving.
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