Deep fried whitebait with artichoke and white bean dip
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- A little effort
- Serves 4 as a starter
Ingredients
- 200g plain flour
- 2 tsp smoked paprika, plus a pinch
- 1 kg whitebait
- for deep frying vegetable oil
- 400g tin butter beans
- 280g jar artichoke hearts in olive oil
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Method
- STEP 1
Drain and rinse the butter beans and use a slotted spoon to remove the artichoke hearts from the jar, keeping the oil. Put all of the ingredients into a blender along with 3 tbsp of the reserved artichoke oil, and blend until smooth. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of paprika over the top of the dip.
- STEP 2
Combine the flour, a good pinch of salt and pepper and the paprika in a bowl and gently toss the whitebait in the mixture so that they’re all well coated.
- STEP 3
Heat the oil in a pan, no more than 1/3 full, to 190C or until a cube of bread browns in 20 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, carefully lower the whitebait into the oil. Fry for 3 minutes, so that they’re golden brown, then scoop out and drain on kitchen paper.
