Ingredients

Method

• 4 large baby marrows
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large handful fresh mint, chopped
• 1 handful fresh dill, chopped
• 100 g feta, crumbled
• 100 g strong hard cheese, such as Manchego, pecorino or Parmesan , grated
• 4 T flour (possibly a bit more), plus extra for dusting
• 2 free-range eggs
• 1 t dried oregano
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

Ingredients

1. Grate the baby marrows using the coarse side of a box grater, then salt and drain for 10 minutes.

2. Fry the red onion gently in the olive oil until translucent. Squeeze the baby marrows to get rid of excess water and place in a bowl with the onion.

3. Add the mint and dill, feta and hard cheese. Add the flour and eggs and mix. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. The mix will be quite loose but manageable enough to create the fritters. Check the seasoning.

4. Heat the oil until hot but not smoking. Check by dropping in a bit of the mixture – it should bubble instantly. Take a large tablespoon of the mix, roll in the flour and fry in the oil until golden. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

Cook's note: In the summer months in our restaurant, we used to grate about 10 kg of baby marrows every evening for these. It was incredible how many of them would be ordered. We used just feta in the original recipe but the addition of some hard cheese only makes them better.

Find more fritter recipes here. 

Photographs: Elena Heatherwick

Marianna Leivaditaki is the head chef at Morito on Hackney Road in London. Her cookbook, Aegean – Recipes from the Mountains to the Sea, is published by Kyle Books and distributed in SA by Jonathan Ball Publishers. R620, octopusbooks.co.uk