Recipe: Almond crusted pumpkin fritters

From staff and wire reports

January 19, 2012 at 3:30 pm  | Mobile Reader | Print 

Ingredients:

1 pound cooked Kabocha squash (1 small raw)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon crushed chili flakes

1/2 pound cooked russet potato (1 large raw)

1 cup salt

3 tablespoons chopped sage

1 ounce grated parmesan

1 ounce grated cheddar

1 egg yolk

Zest of half a lemon

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups toasted crushed almonds

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 bag micro greens

Preheat oven to 350F. Split squash width wise; scrape out seeds. Drizzle each half with olive oil. Sprinkle with chili flakes, a pinch of salt and pepper. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Stab each potato four times with fork. Line sheet pan with salt; place potatoes on top. Place squash face-down on another parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake squash and potatoes in oven for 1 hour or until soft. Carefully split open potatoes lengthwise to steam; allow all to cool completely. Discard salt. When cool, scoop out squash and potato into bowl. Add sage, parmesan, cheddar, egg and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. Combine thoroughly; a chunky texture is fine.

Set up three bowls and one parchment-lined sheet tray. In one bowl, whisk together eggs; place almonds and flour separately in two remaining bowls.

Take about 2 tablespoons of squash mixture and form an oval; dredge in flour, dip in egg and roll in almonds before placing onto sheet pan. Repeat with remaining squash. Refrigerate until ready to fry.

In deep, heavy bottomed pan, heat oil to 300F. Carefully pan fry fritters until golden brown, approximately 2-1/2 minutes each side. Remove from oil. Drain on paper towel; sprinkle with pinch of salt. Serve hot on small bed of microgreens with or without sauce.