Zucchini Flower Fritters

Zucchini Flower season is my favourite time of year – firstly, its summer time, and secondly you can make zucchini flower fritters! If you have a garden or are lucky enough to know someone who grows zucchini in their backyard, you will have access to an abundance of flowers both male and female. The male flowers are the ones that will not have a zucchini at the stem. These are fabulous stuffed with cheese, doused in a batter and fried, or do as I do and simply roughly chop and mix into a batter – an absolute crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

Bunch of zucchini flowers (about 24)

1 cup of self raising flour

1 egg

1 cup of water

¼ cup of chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup of chopped fresh basil

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Freshly grated parmesan to serve

Method:

1. Gently shake off any moisture or insects from the flowers and pull off the base including the stem inside

2. Roughly chop the flowers

3. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, water and egg until smooth

4. Add the flowers, herbs, salt and pepper to taste

5. Heat some olive oil in a fry pan and when the oil is hot, add heaped tablespoon serves of the batter and fry over moderate heat for a couple of minutes or until bubbles surface on the top of the fritter, then flip over and fry for another couple of minutes until golden

6. To serve, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan

7. These are the BEST!