Pumpkin and Feta Fritters

Buy or find
Kent pumpkin, 500g, peeled and grated or coarsely chopped in the food processor
Olive oil, 1 tbs
Red onion, 1, diced
Feta cheese, 300g, (Castello feta cubes in brine work well). You want a feta with at least 1000mg sodium per 100g
Dill leaves, 2 tbs, leaves removed from stems and washed
Parsley leaves, 1 handful, washed
Plain flour, 3 tbs
Eggs, 3, beaten
Vegetable oil, 4 tbs
Baking powder, 1 tsp
Semolina, 1 tbs
Chilli powder to taste
Red capsicum, 1 tbs finely diced red capsicum
Sea salt
Lemon or lime, 2, zest and juice

Do
Toss the grated pumpkin with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and put into a strainer (sieve) set over a bowl for at least 45 minutes to drain.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

Add the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for 10 minutes until soft and sweet, set aside.

Squeeze out any excess moisture from the pumpkin and put onto paper towels or tea towels to drain briefly.

Combine the pumpkin and onion in a large mixing bowl, crumble in the feta cheese (leave some of the cubes more or less whole), then fold in the chopped herbs, flour, baking powder, semolina, chilli, capsicum and eggs.

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat for about 1 minute.

When the oil is hot, working in batches of no more than 4-5 fritters at a time, fry dessert spoons of the fritter mixture for 3 minutes on each side until crispy and golden. Cook for an additional 2 minutes on each side to caramelise (but not burn) the outsides of the fritters. You want the fritters to almost be charred but not burnt.

Transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain, using a slotted spatula.

Serve with the zest and lemon juice sprinkled over.

This works on pita with tabouli, lettuce, hummus or green goddess sauce and diced tomato.

Try this on panini with italian tomato sauce, mozarella or swiss cheese, shredded lettuce, avocado and relish.