Greek-style fried pumpkin balls with herbs - Great seasonal appetizer

Simple, easy and delicious recipe which you can serve as a first dish or along with other savoury bite-sized treats at a buffet table. Feta cheese is an option that goes well with the rest of the ingredients but even if you stick to the original version you'll end up with a very tasty dish to treat your guests

"BHMAgourmet" magazine of "TO BHMA" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4 people):
500 gr. of pumpkin flesh; grated

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 small bunch of fresh spearmint, finely chopped

1 tea-cup of self-raising flour
100-120 gr. of feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

salt
pepper
corn oil for frying

Method:
Grate the pumpkin and leave in a colander for about 30-45 minutes to drain as much of its liquids as possible. *** Place something heavy on the pumpkin, pressing it down so to discard the liquids easier.

Warm the olive oil in a spacious non-stick frying pan on high heat and sauté the pumpkin for 1-2 minutes, stirring with a spatula. *** Don't sauté longer than this because you just want the pumpkin to lose the remaining liquids and not to cook through.

Take the pan off the heat and leave aside to cool. When it is easy to handle, squeeze the pumpkin with your hands and transfer into a large bowl.

Add in the bowl the rest of the ingredients (and the feta cheese if used) and gently knead with your hands, adding the flour, until you have a rather firm dough-like batter. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to settle for 30 minutes.

Warm the corn oil in the non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat and when ready add spoonfuls of the batter in the pan, a few at a time. Fry the pumpkin balls gently, stirring once with two forks until they are nicely golden on both sides.

Transfer with a slotted spoon on kitchen paper to drain the excess oil and serve while the balls are still hot.