Crispy courgette flowers with ricotta and mint

As I've mentioned previously, we visited the Stoke Newington Farmers Market on the weekend, which in a gross oversight considering how close it is, I had never been to before. The market is on every Saturday and is only for local producers, who come from within 100 miles. All the produce is organic, biodynamic or wild so is guaranteed to be seasonal, fresh and hopefully tasty!

While this is all good stuff, the best part for me was spotting these courgette flowers. I haven't seen courgette flowers since we were in Tuscany in 2007 and the owners of our villa also had a farm and provided us with some lovely produce. That was my first experience with courgette flowers and I had to ask Christine to show me what to do with them! That time, we just dipped them in flour and fried them quickly in olive oil. Crispy, fresh and delicate.

This time, I turned again to Jamie Oliver, that reliable guru of seasonal cooking. His recipe is relatively classic - I have had courgette flowers stuffed with cheese in restaurants - but with the twist of being deep-fried in a light and crispy batter.

To be fair, this was not an easy recipe. Opening the flowers, snipping out the stamens and then piping the ricotta cheese mixture in was all quite fiddly. I am still quite new to deep-frying, so that was also a little stressful. The outcome, though, was absolutely worth every minute and every bit of fuss.

The contrast in textures was spot on - the batter light but with a good crunch contrasted beautifully with the creamy, warm cheese. The chilli and mint provided a bit of bang and the courgette flowers were the vessel that brought it all together. Wow!

If you did want to make this for an impressive dinner-party starter, the courgettes and batter could both be prepared in advance, leaving only the 'dunking' and frying to be done last minute. The leftover ricotta mixture was also lovely on crackers, so little treat for the cook!

Crispy courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta and mint
From Jamie at Home
Serves 4 (we made half)

200g good quality crumbly ricotta cheese
pinch of ground nutmeg
small handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
grated zest of 1 lemon
small bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
1-2 fresh red chillies, halved, deseeded and very finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g self-raising flour
350ml decent white wine or sparkling water
8 courgette flowers, with courgettes still attached
vegetable oil
optional: a small piece of potato, peeled
optional: a few sprigs of parsley (highly recommended)
2 lemons, halved

Beat the ricotta in a bowl with the nutmeg, parmesan, lemon zest and most of the chopped mint and chilli. Season carefully to taste.

To make a lovely light batter, put the flour into a mixing bowl with a good pinch of salt. Pour in the white wine and whisk until thick and smooth. At this point the consistency of the batter should be like double cream or, if you dip your finger in, it should stick to your finger and nicely coat it. It it's too thin, add a bit more flour; if it's too thick, add a little more wine.

Open the courgette flowers up gently, keeping them attached to the courgettes, and snip off the pointed stamen inside because these taste bitter. Give the flowers a gentle rinse if you like.

With a teaspoon, carefully fill each flower with the ricotta mixture. Or, as Jamie prefers to do (me too!), spoon the ricotta into the corner of a sandwich bag. Snip 1cm off the corner and use this as a makeshift piping bag to gently squeeze the filling into each flower, until just full. Carefully press the flowers back together around the mixture to seal it in. Then put the flowers to one side (the leftover ricotta can be smeared on hot crostini as a snack).

Now for the deep-frying bit. Have tongs ready for lifting the flowers out of the oil, and a plate with a double layer of kitchen paper on it for draining. Pour the oil into a deep fat fryer or large deep saucepan so it is about 12cm deep. Heat it up to 180 degrees or, if using a saucepan, put in the piece of potato. As soon as the potato turns golden, floats to the surface and starts to sizzle, the oil is just about the right temperature. Remove the potato from the pan.

One by one, dip the courgettes with their ricotta-stuffed flowers into the batter, making sure they are completely covered, and gently let any excess drip off. Carefully release them, away from you, into the hot oil. Quickly batter another one or two flowers and any parsley leaves - but don't crowd the pan too much otherwise they'll stick together. Fry until golden and crisp all over, then lift them out of the oil and drain on the kitchen paper. Remove to a plate or board and sprinkle with a good pinch of salt and the remaining chilli and mint. Serve with half a lemon to squeeze over. Eat them quick!