Herbed Ricotta Fritters

When you have a couple of egg yolks staring at you, 1/2 kilo of ricotta in the fridge that you're undecided what to do with, want to make something really quick and easy, dying to sit and relax with drink in hand, then these little fritter-balls are the perfect solution to your woes.

Two cups of chopped herbs are folded through the ricotta/egg/flour mixture and shallow fried in minutes. The combination of herbs is entirely up to you. As we are in the depths of a freezing winter, with snow on the mountains and frosts on the ground, I'm still lucky enough to have the old reliables flourishing in the garden - rosemary, parsley and oregano.

Initially, I thought that these might be a bit bland and overpowered by the herbs, but after one bite my fears were put to rest. They would make a wonderful addition to any party platter, but I would double the recipe 'cause they're just so tasty.

Herbed ricotta fritters

Ingredients

• 500g fresh ricotta cheese
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted
• 2 cups mixed fresh herbs, chopped (we used flat-leaf parsley, oregano and rosemary leaves)
• 150g parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 2 cups vegetable oil, for shallow-frying

Method

1. Place ricotta in a sieve over a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow excess moisture to drain from ricotta. Drain, wash and dry bowl. Spoon ricotta into the bowl. Add egg yolks. Mix until well combined. Add flour, herbs and 1 1/2 cups parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
2. Preheat oven to 160°C. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Using 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture per fritter, cook fritters in batches of 4, turning often with a metal spoon, for 3 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack over a baking tray. Keep warm in oven while cooking the remaining fritters.
3. Place fritters on a plate. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Simona, from Briciole, is hosting this months Weekend Herb Blogging event, the brainstorm of Kalyn, from Kalyn's Kitchen. There are some new rules being introduced for next weekend, rules for the better, in my honest opinion, so that this event remains primarily about herbs, so check them out here.