Lightly battered veggies fried until crisp and golden and served with roasted garlic and lemon aioli. Level it up with crispy battered prawns and calamari for an indulgent seafood addition, making it a tasty fritto misto platter. 

Serves: 4–6
Preparation time: 25 minutes, plus 30 minutes’ chilling time
Cooking time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Moderate

Roasted Garlic & Lemon Aioli

1 whole garlic bulb
1 tsp (5 ml) olive oil
½ C (125 ml) good-quality mayonnaise
3–4 Tbsp (45–60 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp (5 ml) finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp (5 ml) Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Fritti Batter

¼ C (60 ml) cornflour
1 C (250 ml) flour
Pinch of salt
½ tsp (2.5 ml) bicarbonate of soda
1 C (250 ml) ice-cold sparkling water

Crispy Prawns & Calamari (Optional Level-up)

300 g frozen prawns, defrosted, peeled and deveined
300 g calamari tubes, cleaned

Vegetables

4 C (1 L) sunflower oil, for deep-frying
100 g courgettes, thinly sliced lengthways
100 g mangetout
50 g green beans, ends trimmed
50 g baby corn, halved lengthways
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To Serve

Lemon wedges

Roasted Garlic & Lemon Aioli

Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

Slice the top off the garlic bulb to expose the cloves. Place on a piece of aluminium foil, drizzle with the olive oil and wrap loosely. Roast in the oven for 35–45 minutes, until the cloves are completely soft and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.

Squeeze 2–3 roasted garlic cloves from their skins and mash to a smooth paste. Reserve the remaining roasted garlic for another use.

Combine the mayonnaise, roasted garlic paste, lemon juice and zest and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix until smooth.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

Fritti Batter

If making the Crispy Prawns & Calamari (optional), increase all of the batter ingredients by half to ensure there is enough for both the vegetables and seafood.

Combine the cornflour, flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. Add the sparkling water and gently mix until a light batter forms. A few small lumps are fine; take care not to overmix.

If making the Crispy Prawns & Calamari (optional), start preparing the seafood so it can be fried alongside the vegetables using the same batter.

Crispy Prawns & Calamari (Optional Level-up)

Pat the prawns and calamari thoroughly dry with paper towel. Slice the calamari tubes into approximately 1 cm rings. Keep chilled until ready to fry.

Vegetables

Heat the sunflower oil in a deep, heavy-based saucepan to 180 °C.

Working in batches, dip the vegetables into the batter one at a time, allowing the excess batter to drip away. Carefully lower into the hot oil and fry for 1–2 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp.

Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to drain any excess oil. Season immediately with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

If using the Crispy Prawns & Calamari (optional), fry the seafood at this stage. Dip the prawns into the same batter, allow the excess batter to drip off and fry in small batches for 2–3 minutes, until crisp, golden and cooked through.

Repeat with the calamari rings, frying for 1½–2 minutes, until lightly golden and crisp. Take care not to overcook the calamari. Drain and season lightly with salt while hot.

To Serve

Pile the crispy vegetable fritti onto a serving platter and serve immediately with the roasted garlic and lemon aioli and fresh lemon wedges.

If using the optional seafood level-up, add the crispy prawns and calamari to create a fritto misto platter. Serve immediately.