It’s the perfect time to fire up the grill and enjoy the warmer weather with family and friends. A family-run business for over 75 years that is renowned as the destination for delivering dream kitchens — both indoor and outdoors — Caplan’s has sponsored a new cooking series that focuses on cooking simple and delicious recipes outdoors. Hosted by acclaimed chefs Rob Rossi and Craig Harding, Open Fire creates delicious, innovative dishes, and one of their favourite recipes is shared with you here.
This perfect summer recipe is light and packed full of delicious flavours. Chef Harding recommends purchasing Japanese tempura flour as it makes the process much quicker, and it tastes great. Simmering your own hot honey takes the recipe to a whole other level, adding a depth of flavour and heat that brings it all together. Espelette spice has become a favourite of the chefs that adds a subtle flavour of sweet and smokiness.
Zucchini Fritti with Hot Honey and Pecorino
Ingredients:
- 100 g Japanese tempura flour
- 100 mL sparkling water
- 2 green and 2 yellow zucchinis
- 4 fresh habanero peppers
- 1 cup of honey
- Oil, for frying
- Salt
- A few leaves of fresh mint
- Espelette dry pepper
- Lemon
- Pecorino cheese
Directions:
1. Simmer slowly for 20 minutes.
2. Slice a yellow zucchini into thin coin-sized slices and reserve for plating. Julienne the rest of the zucchinis into medium-sized pieces.
3. In a mixing bowl add the 100 g of the tempura flour and the 100 ml of sparkling water and mix. You want a thin tempura batter. Add a pinch of salt. Mix in the julienned zucchinis.
4. In a heavy bottomed pot, add around 2 inches of oil and heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Carefully add the zucchini and deep fry for 1 to 2 minutes until the colour is golden brown.
5. Remove fried zucchinis from the pot and place onto a plate lined with a paper towel. Lightly season with salt.
6. Grab a plate or small platter and place the uncooked thin coin zucchini slices in a circle as the base of the dish. Add the tempura zucchini on top and sprinkle with a pinch of Espelette dry pepper. Chop a few leaves of fresh mint and gently place over the dish.
7. Remove the hot honey from the stove and drizzle the hot honey over the tempura. Hit with a quick squeeze of lemon. Lastly, finely grate some pecorino cheese on top.
Be sure to tune in to Open Fire, airing weekly on TLN, for more recipes.
