Anglesey Salt And Pepper Fritto Misto
Fritto Misto Halen a Phupur Ynys Môn
This is holiday food. The best fritto misto we can remember was in Italy – sugar paper cones filled with an array of tender green veg and seafood, sprinkled with coarse sea salt and washed down with very cold beers. Depending on the season, you can mix up the veg according to your favourites – we like asparagus in late spring/early summer; courgettes in late summer, thinly sliced squash in autumn, and trimmed purple sprouting broccolli in winter. This is a recipe from our perfectly seasoned cook book Sea Salt.
Ingredients
- 10g/¼oz dried seaweed, such as kombu or dulse
- 200g/7oz courgettes, cut into 1cm/½in rounds
- 50g/1¾oz curly kale, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces 100g/3½oz green beans or asparagus spears, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 400g/14oz prepared mixed seafood, such as squid, cleaned and cut into rings; prawns, peeled and heads removed; flaky white fish, such as MSC cod, plaice or haddock, filleted and cut into 3cm/1¼in chunks
- 1 litre/35fl oz vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 150g/5¼oz plain flour
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 75g/2¾oz fine semolina
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp finer flaked sea salt
- ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper, plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 medium egg whites
- 300ml/10½fl oz sparkling water
- Flaked sea salt
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 120°C/100°C fan/250°F/Gas 1. Line a large baking sheet with kitchen paper and sit a wire rack on top of it to drain the cooked pieces.
- Pour the oil for deep-frying into a large saucepan, so that it comes 4cm/11⁄2in up the sides. Clip a sugar thermometer to the side of the pan and heat the oil over a medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, mix both flours, the semolina, baking powder, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until thick, bright white and frothy but before they start to form soft peaks. Set aside.
- Pour the sparkling water into the flour mixture and whisk to combine, then fold through the whisked egg whites until the mixture is smooth.
- When the oil reaches 180°C/350°F on the thermometer, drop a handful of fish, vegetables and seaweed into the batter, allowing any excess batter to drip back into the bowl. Carefully lower the coated pieces into the hot oil immediately, using a clean slotted spoon to separate the pieces to prevent clumping. Deep-fry for 4–5 minutes, turning the pieces once until crisp and golden on both sides. Lift the pieces with the slotted spoon onto the prepared wire rack and immediately sprinkle with flaked sea salt.
- Allow the oil to come back up to temperature before repeating with the remaining vegetables, fish and batter, transferring the batches to the wire rack to drain as you go and seasoning with salt while they are hot. Keep the cooked pieces warm in the oven with the door slightly ajar while you cook the rest (this will prevent the batter going soggy).
- Serve on a platter with the lemon wedges. Grind over some more black pepper and eat with friends and plenty of paper napkins.
