Seasonal local food recipe No 170: Swiss chard fritters
Yotam Ottolenghi is very keen on swiss chard and this recipe is from his latest book Jerusalem, co-authored with Sami Tamimi. Of these fritters, he says, ‘The intense green colour of these fritters , originally Turkish, is paralleled by a wonderfully concentrated “green” flavour of chard and herbs. They are a truly marvellous way to start a meal.’
Serves 4 as a starter
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
Ingredients
400g swiss chard leaves, stalks removed
30g flat-leaf parsley
20g coriander
20g dill
1½ tsp grated nutmeg
½ tsp sugar
3 tbsp plain flour
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 medium eggs
80g feta, broken into small pieces
60ml olive oil
1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
salt and black pepper
Method
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the chard and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the leaves and squeeze them well until completely dry. Place in a food processor along with the herbs, nutmeg, sugar, flour, garlic eggs, salt and peppeer. Blitz until smooth and then fold the feta through the mix by hand.
Pour a tablespoon of oil into a medium frying pan. Put over medium-high heat and spoon in a heaped tablespoon of mixture for each fritter. Press down gently to get a 7cm wide and 1cm thick fritter. You should be able to fit about three at a time. Cook for 3-4 minutes in total, turning once, until the fritters have taken on some colour. Transfer to kitchen paper then keep each batch warm while you cook the remaining mixture. Serve at once with a wedge of lemon.
