Sweetcorn & Cheese Fritters

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 80 g plain flour
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 x 198g tins sweetcorn, drained
• 80 g cheddar, grated
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• Fine salt and black pepper
• 150 ml soured cream
• 10 g flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Method

1. Drain the sweetcorn thoroughly and tip it onto a clean tea towel; pat it properly dry. Wet corn means a sloppy batter and fritters that steam instead of crisp.
2. Tip the corn into a large bowl with the flour, beaten eggs, grated cheddar and sliced spring onions. Season generously with salt and plenty of black pepper.
3. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Sprinkle in the smoked paprika and let it toast in the oil for 30 seconds until fragrant. Tip the toasted oil straight into the batter and stir to a thick, spoonable mix that just holds its shape on the spoon.
4. Wipe the pan, add another splash of oil and bring it back to medium heat until it shimmers, about 1 minute.
5. Drop in heaped spoonfuls of batter, pressing lightly with the back of the spoon to flatten into rounds about 1cm thick. Don't crowd the pan; three or four fritters at a time, single layer, with breathing room. All at once and they'll steam, the edges won't crisp, and the cheese won't catch.
6. Cook for 3 minutes per side until deeply golden and crisp at the edges, with the cheese catching and crackling here and there. Transfer to a low oven (around 100°C) to keep warm while you finish the rest in batches.
7. Taste one.
8. Pile the fritters onto plates, spoon over a generous dollop of soured cream, scatter with chopped parsley and squeeze a lemon wedge over each plate; the acid cuts the cheese and lifts the whole thing.