Limoncello & rosemary tempura battered courgette
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Ingredients
2 courgettes, 1 cup plain flour, limoncello, black pepper, rosemary, 1/2 cup ice water.
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Since my good friend Leo gave me a present of some cream of limoncello for catsitting The Major, I have been determined to create some interesting uses for this Italian liqueur. Tempura batter was the first thing that came to mind (a fabulously light, crispy batter which you'll remember me using for tempura avocado and tempura bacon in previous recipes) and this combination of lemon, rosemary and black pepper is absolutely classic with lovely, fresh courgette.
1) In preparation, put a jug of water into the freezer to ensure it's as cold as possible without actually being frozen, and heat your deep fat fryer to 170 or bring a pan of oil to the boil.
2) Wash the courgettes and slice off the tops and bottoms, slice them in half widthways and then lengthways and finally slicing each piece into three wedges by angling the knife towards the centre of each piece.
3) Mix the flour with 1 tsp of finely chopped rosemary, black pepper and salt and then roll the courgette pieces into the dry mixture to coat them in flour. (this will help the wet batter stick to them) Remove the courgette and set aside.
4) Mix about 1 tsp of limoncello into the batter and then top up with ice water until a batter thick enough to coat a spoon is formed. Don't stir it too well - lumps are good here!
5) Dip each piece of courgette into the batter and drop into your deep fat fryer/boiling oil. The secret to good tempura is the combination of icy cold batter and hot oil so mix the batter at the last possible second.
Once the batter is crispy and golden it's ready to serve - absolutely perfect with good old ketchup but if you want to try some of my other dips check out the following recipes: cheese & chive, Wensleydale & cranberry, Basil dip, roast pepper & goats cheese, spinach dip, rose tzatziki, avocado tzatziki, aioli, baked camembert, basil hummus and hummus.
