Cauliflower fritters are a Palermo street-food classic from the friggitorie – hot and salty from the fryer and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice, says Ben Tish. Delicious.
Serves 4
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
- ½ a large leafy cauliflower, cut into florets and leaves thinly sliced
- 1.5-2 litres groundnut oil, for frying
for the batter:
- 50g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
- 30g parmesan, finely grated
- 2 salted anchovies, finely chopped
- zest of ½ an unwaxed lemon
- ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 large free-range egg
- 75ml cold sparkling water
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Cook the florets and leaves in boiling salted water for 5 mins or so. Drain well, refresh under cold water, drain again.
- To make the batter, mix the flours with the cheese, anchovies, lemon zest and cayenne. Make a well and add the egg. Mix with a wooden spoon, gradually adding the fizzy water and drawing the flour into the centre, until you have a smooth, thick batter. Season well. Add the cauliflower florets and leaves and stir to coat.
- Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or deep pan to 180°C (a cube of bread dropped in will brown in about 30 secs). Drop heaped tablespoons of the cauliflower into the hot oil and fry for 2 mins, or until crisp and golden brown. Lift out with a spider or slotted spoon onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain while you continue frying.
- Sprinkle sea salt liberally over the fried cauliflower and serve with homemade aioli.
Taken from Sicilia by Ben Tish, published by Bloomsbury at £26. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £20.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.
-
Minnesota's legal system buckles under Trump's ICE surgeIN THE SPOTLIGHT Mass arrests and chaotic administration have pushed Twin Cities courts to the brink as lawyers and judges alike struggle to keep pace with ICE’s activity
-
Big-time money squabbles: the conflict over California’s proposed billionaire taxTalking Points Californians worth more than $1.1 billion would pay a one-time 5% tax
-
‘The West needs people’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
-
American Psycho: a ‘hypnotic’ adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis classicThe Week Recommends Rupert Goold’s musical has ‘demonic razzle dazzle’ in spades
-
Properties of the week: houses near spectacular coastal walksThe Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, Devon and Northumberland
-
Melania: an ‘ice-cold’ documentaryTalking Point The film has played to largely empty cinemas, but it does have one fan
-
Nouvelle Vague: ‘a film of great passion’The Week Recommends Richard Linklater’s homage to the French New Wave
-
Wonder Man: a ‘rare morsel of actual substance’ in the Marvel UniverseThe Week Recommends A Marvel series that hasn’t much to do with superheroes
-
Is This Thing On? – Bradley Cooper’s ‘likeable and spirited’ romcomThe Week Recommends ‘Refreshingly informal’ film based on the life of British comedian John Bishop
-
A Shellshocked Nation: Britain Between the Wars – history at its most ‘human’The Week Recommends Alwyn Turner’s ‘witty and wide-ranging’ account of the interwar years
