Deep fried winter vegetables
( Verdure pastellate e fritte invernali )

Battered and fried winter vegetable recipe

Preparation and cooking

• - Clean cauliflower, divide it into florets, wash and steam. About 15 minutes. It should remain crisp. Let it cool.
• - Repeat the same step with broccoli. Steaming time should be similar.
• - At this point you should prepare batter and let it rest, about 30minutes.
  Weigh all-purpose flour.
  Beat egg with a pinch of salt, chili pepper, chives and olive oil.
  Begin adding flour through a strainer.
  When you see your dough does absorb it no more, add beer, a little at a time.
  Continue adding beer and flour.
  Once finished beer, add carbonated water. Your batter must be smooth, lump-free, and should have the consistency of the cream.
  Let it rest, about 30 minutes.
• - Meanwhile ...
  ... peel carrots and cut them into not too thick sticks.
  Make the same step with zucchini.
  Remove peel from pumpkin and cut it into thin slices.
  Peel onion and cut it crossways.
  Clean fennel bulbs, wash and cut into not too thick segments.
  Clean artichokes, cut everyone into 8 segments. Dip them in acidulated water, at once.
• - Heat abundant peanut oil in a skillet.
  Dip carrots in your batter and begin frying them, a few at a time after draining them well from batter. In fact, batter must not be abundant. Take a look at the photo for more details.
  Remove always your fried vegetables with a skimming ladle, transfer on absorbent kitchen paper, season to taste with salt and put apart. Remember to keep them warm.
  Continue with zucchini, then with pumpkin, fennel, onion, cauliflower and broccoli. Do not fry together different kinds of vegetables because they have different cooking times.
  The last vegetables must be artichokes. So, if your batter is reduced greatly, you'll be able to dilute it with their acidulated water. But be alert to any oil splashes.

Just before serving

• - Serve your battered and fried vegetables immediately, hot.

Note

Tips

• - The amount of any vegetable is before its cleaning. Double the weight of broccoli and cauliflower, if you want more than a piece per head.
• - I always prefer steaming cauliflower and broccoli to avoid thay may be too impregnated of water.
• - If you prefer more batter enveloping vegetables, double its ingredient weight.

Menu planning

• - These deep fried vegetables are perfect to prepare a typical antipasto platter, Italian style. Combine them with assorted salami and cheeses.
• - They can accompany roasted or baked meat or fish too.

Useful links for this recipe

• - Interested in the recipe for only deep fried artichokes? follow the link. Their batter is different.

Healthy eating

• - It is impossible to calculate the nutritional value of these deep fried vegetables, at least at home, where it becomes difficult to know exactly the amount of peanut oil absorbed during cooking. On the other hand, even if I could calculate it, it would still be a significant variable for anyone who prepared the same dish.
• - Do not eat too much fried food!

Loretta