Delia's Cheese and Herb Fritters with Sweet Pepper Marmalade

By Helen

Mmm cheese doughnuts...

Main Ingredients

• Feta, Gruyere and Cheddar cheeses
• Basil, thyme and parsley
• Red peppers
• Onions
• Cider and cider vinegar

"If you want to serve a meal without meat or fish, this is just the thing," Delia claimed, so it seemed rude not to try it.

A batter of egg, flour and cayenne was combined with a frankly staggering amount of grated cheese (who knew you could grate feta?) and lots of chopped herbs, then formed into patties. I wasn't sure what to expect here as the nearest things I could compare them to were fishcakes - except without any fish or mashed potato. Thankfully the cayenne and herbiness stopped them from becoming overwhelmingly rich, even when deep-fried.

The pepper marmalade was pretty tasty too - red onion and red peppers, garlic, brown sugar, cider and cider vinegar were simmered quietly until the liquid evaporated and the vegetables were soft and sweet. This time we didn't have any leftovers but I would happily have combined a fritter and some of this marmalade in a bun as a veggie burger substitute.

That didn't seem quite enough on its own so we had a green salad with onions roasted in balsamic vinegar too (possibly unnecessarily). For habitual meat eaters like myself who are used to treating vegetables as extras, it's difficult to decide just what is the central feature of a veggie meal and how many sides you actually need!

Overall, creamy, tangy and probably incredibly bad for you but not half bad. At £2.94 a head it was expensive for a veggie meal but reasonable in the grand scheme of things. Plus with the addition of some boiled potatoes it would have gone a lot further - or a half batch would have made a very impressive starter.

Best for... A more creative take on the veggie burger
Taken from... Delia Smith - How to Cook: Book Two
Chris says... Eating deep-fried cheese never felt so healthy!