“One of my earliest childhood memories is eating keftedes with my Yiayia. My grandma came over from Cyprus to help my dad in his restaurant. I used to get involved at the age of four helping out with minor tasks such as feeding potatoes through the rumbler and grating Kefalotyri cheese. It’s where I found my passion for cooking.
Normally keftedes are made with minced meat (they're basically meatballs). These vegetarian alternatives are packed with flavour. Pre-roasting the carrots brings out their natural sweetness, which is balanced by the salt-sour feta and Kefalotyri. Mint and parsley add freshness, with a hint of cinnamon for spice. These keftedes are just as delicious served cold. This is my vegetarian version of these Greek meatballs, dedicated to my Yiayia Maria.”
Chef Maria Elia, UK
Feeds 4, makes 16
Ingredients
350g carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, grated
150g feta, crumbled
50g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp dried mint
50g parmesan, grated
10g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
plain flour, to dust
olive or vegetable oil, for shallow frying
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fanC/gGas 6.
Peel and top and tail the carrots, and leave whole. Drizzle with the olive oil, and place in a roasting tin and cook for 30–40 minutes (depending on the size of carrots) until al dente, turning them halfway through. Leave to cool.
Grate the carrots into a bowl and mix with the rest of the ingredients, except the flour and oil. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and refrigerate for 1an hour. (The mixture can be made the day before and refrigerated until required.).
Shape into 16 walnut-sized balls and dust in flour. You can either shallow fry them in olive oil or deep-fry them in vegetable oil. If using olive oil, heat in a frying pan over a medium heat, add half the keftedes and fry until golden on either side – about 3 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining balls. If using vegetable oil, deep-fry the keftedes for about 3 minutes at 180°C until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and serve warm.