“What, not fritters again?”,  I hear you say.  Which reminds me of a story Maus often relates.  Her nephew (who is now 40) as a small boy (about 4 years-old) was a very fussy eater.  The only thing he seemed to like was tinned baked beans.  Every time he visited his grandmother (Maus’ mum), she would give him what she thought was his favourite meal, baked beans. That is, until the day the poor boy exclaimed, “What? Not bloody bake-ked beans, again?”

I like fritters because, in my humble opinion, we eat too much meat.  Fritters are a great way to present a satisfying meal with no (or very little) meat involved.  These have bacon in them but, if you are a vegetarian, you could replace the bacon with grated haloumi.

These fritters are different in that they are pumpkin fritters which I have never tried before.  They were very, very nice which is saying a lot as I don’t particularly like pumpkin.  The other ingredients seem to meld well with the pumpkin and mellow its flavour and … well, the salsa is particularly yummy.  If you like a fritter or two, give them a go. You won’t be sorry.

The recipe is from Cuisine Magazine, Issue 152, May 2012.  It was created by Ginny Grant.  I don’t know what I was looking for when I came across it but, clearly, the picture of the fritters caught my eye and, as they say, the rest is history.

Serves: 4 (makes 12 fritters)

Almond & Coriander Salsa

• 1 small clove garlic
• ¼ cup roasted almonds (Place almonds in a bowl of boiling water.  Leave a few minutes until the skins loosen and then slip skins off.  Put almonds in a dry frying pan and fry until they begin to colour.  Take off the heat.)
• one dry chilli or a pinch of chilli powder
• 1 cup firmly packed coriander leaves
• ¼ cup mint leaves
• 1 tbs* lemon juice
• 2 tbs* olive oil
• 2 tbs* thick Greek-style plain yoghurt
• ½ tsp salt

Fritters

• vegetable oil
• 150g bacon, finely diced
• 2 tbs* sage, finely chopped
• 500g pumpkin, grated
• ¼ cup plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• cos lettuce leaves, to serve

*These are 15ml tablespoons.

Almond & Coriander Salsa

1. Put the garlic in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop.
2. Add the almonds and pulse until chopped.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and a little water (up to 2 tablespoons) until all the ingredients are well mixed and everything is finely chopped.

Fritters

1. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the bacon until crisp then set aside.
2. Put the sage in the same pan and fry for a minute, stirring all the while. Set aside.
3. Clean the frying pan in readiness to cook the fritters.
4. Put the grated pumpkin in a bowl.
5. Sift the flour and baking powder into the pumpkin and mix in.
6. Add the eggs and mix in.
7. Stir the bacon and sage through the pumpkin mixture.
8. Season generously with salt and coarsely ground black pepper.
9. Heat a little oil in the frying pan.
10. Add large spoonfuls of the pumpkin mixture and fry over medium heat, in batches, until the fritters are well browned and cooked through.
11. Keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining fritters.
12. Serve with the almond and coriander salsa and a couple of cos lettuce leaves.