Fritters are a New Zealand classic and these ones, packed with fresh spring produce, make a perfect light lunch or dinner.

Spring is well and truly upon us – my garden has exploded and I take such pleasure in being able to harvest its bounty on a daily basis. We are currently enjoying purple sprouting broccoli, leeks, silverbeet, kale, cavolo nero, lettuce and a plethora of herbs. Now that our chickens are back on the lay (and we have located their latest nest!), these fritters seemed like the perfect thing to make to celebrate all the wonderful produce we have right outside our back door.

SPRING GREEN FRITTERS

Serves 4-6

• 400g frozen peas
• 1 cup herbs, firmly packed (I used mint, parsley and lemon balm)
• 1 cup silverbeet or spinach, firmly packed
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 eggs
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 80g parmesan, finely grated
• 115g feta, crumbled
• 50g flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ghee for frying

Put the peas into a large pyrex jug, cover with boiling water and leave for 2 minutes. Tip the peas into a sieve and drain well. Pour the peas back into the jug (leaving roughly a quarter of them in the sieve), add the herbs, silverbeet and garlic and, using a stick blender, blend until smooth.  

Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a clean bowl and the yolks in with the pea mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the onion, parmesan and feta to the pea mixture and mix well to combine.  

Next add the flour, baking powder and sea salt along with a couple of good grinds of black pepper. Add about a quarter of the egg white to the pea mixture and gently fold in. 

Tip in the remaining egg white and gently fold again until combined. Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat. Spoon tablespoons of the mixture into the pan and fry until golden before flipping and frying until the reverse side is also golden. Repeat with the remaining mixture until all gone.  Serve with a spring green salad.