serves
6
prep
15 minutes
cook
10 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
6
people
preparation
15
minutes
cooking
10
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 400 g fresh ricotta
- 2 eggs, whisked
- 1½ tbsp baby capers
- 10 pitted black olives, roughly chopped
- 6 ‘Delicius’ Sicilian anchovies, roughly chopped
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 L frying oil
- ½ jar fresh basil sugo (see Note)
- 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated (e.g. using a microplane)
- Basil micro herb or fresh basil, to garnish
Chilling time: 10 minutes.
Instructions
- Mix ricotta and eggs and stir well until combined. Add capers, olives and anchovies. Then add flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir, then chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Heat oil in a large, shallow pan to 170-180°C. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of the chilled fritter mixture into the oil at the edge of the pan (this is where the oil is hottest).
- Repeat, but only do a few fritters at a time. Shallow-fry for 4-5 minutes, until cooked through. Drain on a paper towel. Allow the oil to reheat between batches. Repeat until you run out of the mixture.
- Bring basil sugo to a simmer and set aside.
- Serve fritters in bowls: first add a layer of hot fresh basil sugo, place 3 fritters in each bowl, and dust with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and micro basil leaves.
Note
Luca uses his own ‘Chef Luca Ciano’ brand of basil sugo. For frying, he uses a blend of half Monini grapeseed oil and half Monini Classico.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
