This simple dish allows us to taste the delicate flavors of spring fruits that the earth offers us. It’s a light vegetarian starter, and it’s easy to prepare, but some tricks are necessary: cook the broad beans for a few seconds and let them cool in water with ice to stop cooking. So the color remains vivid, but above all the legumes remain crispy. The oil with wild fennel must be prepared before you start to cook… It takes a little time for the precious leaves of the plant to release their characteristic scent in the oil. Finally, it is necessary to create a double breading for the mozzarella, because in this way it will become very crispy and because milk will not come out of the mozzarella. If you follow this recipe , you will cook a mouth-watering starter !!
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the wild fennel flavored oil:
- a few sprigs of wild fennel
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
Method
Pour into a glass the extra virgin olive oil and add some washed and dried wild fennel leaves You have to leave it to macerate for at least three hours.
For the peas purée:
- 200 grams peas
- 1 medium-sized white onion
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- a pinch of salt
- ground black pepper to taste
Method
Put the peeled peas inside a saucepan with the cleaned and rinsed onion, the salt, the black pepper and finally add the oil. Then pour as much water as needed to cover the legumes. Cook over low heat until the peas are cooked very well. You can blend them in a blender until the purée is completely smooth. After pass through a fine sieve. Set aside.
For the crispy broad beans:
- 100 grams broad beans
- a few sprigs of wild fennel
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- a pinch of salt
- ground black pepper to taste
Method
Cut the pod in half, open it and extract the broad beans. Put them in a bowl. Then remove the outer membrane using a knife. Bring water to boil and add the broad beans. Cook for just a minute. Drain and place in a bowl full of water and ice cubes for a few seconds: this is important to finish the cooking. Drain again and season with the wild fennel flavored oil.
For the fried mozzarella:
- 4 medium sized buffalo mozzarella
- 150 grams breadcrumbs
- plain flour to taste
- cold water to taste
- sunflower oil
- salt
Method
Drain the mozzarella in a sieve for at least 40 minutes. Preheat a deep fryer to 170℃. After prepare the batter by mixing flour with cold water. You will have to prepare a smooth batter; it will not have to be very liquid. Dredge each mozzarella first through the batter, followed by the breadcrumbs. Repeat the operation twice. Deep fry until the mozzarella balls are golden and crispy, which should take about 2 minutes. Drain the mozzarella balls on kitchen paper and season with salt before serving.
Plating
Put a pastry ring on a plate and pour in the peas purée , then add one fried mozzarella ball and decorate with crispy broad beans and some wild fennel leaves. Do in this way for every dish.