Fritto Misto

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch black pepper
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 bunch chopped basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup ice water
• 1/2 cup cold seltzer water
• 1/2 pound small squid, cleaned and the bodies cut into thin rings with the tentacles reserved
• 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and cleaned with the tails intact
• 1 small fennel head, trimmed, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 sweet potato, cleaned and very thinly sliced
• 1 lemon, very thinly sliced
• 8 to 10 basil leaves
• oil for frying

Instructions

1. 1

   Fill a deep pot with 3 inches of oil and preheat to 350˚F.

2. 2

   Place the dredging mixture into a shallow dish and whisk together.

3. 3

   Pour all batter ingredients, except the seltzer water, into a large mixing bowl and whisk together.

4. 4

   Place the squid, shrimp, fennel, potato, and lemon into the dredging mixture and toss together until everything is fully coated in a thin layer, shaking off any excess (you may want to do this I a few batches).

5. 5

   Pour the seltzer water into the batter and whisk together. Dip each dredged item into the batter and shake off any excess.

6. 6

   Carefully drop coated vegetables into the oil, first a few at a time, making sure not to overcrowd the pot.

7. 7

   Fry each piece for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until very lightly golden and crisp. Drain onto a paper towel and lightly season with salt. Repeat with the remaining vegetables followed by the seafood, and finally the lemon slices and basil leaves (the basil leaves will only require a couple seconds of frying).

8. 8

   Once all the items are fried, transfer to a serving platter and serve with garlic-lemon aioli and cocktail sauce.