Fried sage leaves (“Salvia Fritta” in Italian) is a lot more palatable when fried in some batter. A crunchy bite served well as an appetizer. This recipes serves about 4 to 6 people as antipasto, a chilled drink and Parmesan cubes (so good!) they are just as delicious for breakfast and can be ready in 15 minutes.
Served here with a Mascarpone Cheese Dip but just as good for breakfast with a tomato dish on the side or is that just me? And an egg on top too 🙂
Have you ever tried fried sage leaves? Not when they are oil glossed over stuffed pasta but rather the fried crispy crunchy batter version which are so delicious that you naturally have too many!
I am always committed to the genius little tricks with food so if you have some fresh sage leaves give these a try. I wish I could take the credit for this recipe but this is one hundred percent my husbands recipe and if you follow my Instagram account you will know that we are both big on food so no surprise there. The surprise was with me saying 'what are you doing my sage?' yes I know like I own the sage 🙂
Ever so now and again I get another history lesson on gardening and through that comes an idea of his childhood what they made at home, grew in the garden or ate which always ends up in a recipe.
HOW TO MAKE FRIED SAGE LEAVES
- Pick the most fresh sage with large enough leaves - fresh is first.
- Don't wash the sage just check its clean and it should be if you get a good bunch.
Unless you have sage outside growing in your garden (you are blessed) your leaves will be smaller if store bough or growing them in a small way outside.
- Mix the four and liquid together with a pinch of salt.
- Heat the oil and cover your sage in batter and then you fry them, that easy! All you have to do is fry each sage leave until golden brown but because these are smaller we hold the stem and fry in a small 'stem batches'
This recipe from start to finish takes 15 minutes so it's quick enough for last minute nibbles. Also, if you having friends over for a meal, although limited with Covid-19 it can be done for 1 person or a family, get them ready as an antipasto while everyone waits for the main meal.
SPINACH FRIED LEAVES
For real? Yes for real life friends 🙂 We had just done a batch of fried sage leaves and Mr Creative here said I want to try this with spinach leaves what do you think? I think the kitchen is about creativity so he went ahead with frying spinach leaves! The result was these extra crunchy bites they were more like crisps which were also very addictive. I know because I tasted them so that I was able to let you know what they taste like.
The taste of spinach disappears into the crunch they are so crunchy! Probably because it was baby spinach rather than large spinach leaves. This is more like covering a kale leave in batter but I promise I wont take it that far because what would the point be? From healthy kale to fried kale, another conversation but for now here's the spinach version!
If you do try any of these recipes 100% let us know in the comments below and we would love a rating from you! Also show us how yours turned out and post it to Instagram using the hashtag #anosmickitchen and @anosmickitchen because that's always just that extra special! 🙂
So now that we have fried sage leaves and fried spinach leaves how shall we serve them. I will touch on this a bit later on in this post but for now I think that you don't always have to dip them (which is how I love to eat them) my husband on the other hand would rather eat them on their own. But if I could tell you that I've dipped them into my Basil Pesto Recipe that's just about always in the fridge because its so delicious and versatile!
I've also dipped them into my Roasted Red Pepper Dip Recipe so for me, it would be some sort of dip.
THE BATTER
This recipe batter is generally made with flour and beer, Here we are with tight restrictions (COVID 19) so there is no way of buying alcohol and we wouldn't have any in hiding because we don't drink it either. We have however some sparking water and that was our rescue liquid!
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After asking my husband 20/20 questions I decided to look up why beer and this is what I found directly from Cooks Illustrated.
Far more important is the fact that beer is carbonated, which affects the batter in two ways. First, the bubbles provide lift as they escape from the batter during frying. Second, the carbonation makes the batter slightly more acidic, which limits how much gluten can form when the beer and flour mix, preventing the batter from turning tough.
The next best substitute for a batter to beer is soda but we had sparkling water and it gave us beautiful crunchy sage leaves!
MY TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS
Follow the recipe card below because this recipe is pretty much so easy and quick it doesn't require much. You can whip these up at a moments notice it takes all of 15 minutes! What I would suggest are a few minor things;
- Use the sage stems to hold, it makes for easier handling when dipping into the batter
- You want a thin but firm batter so adjust it to your liking
Before we continue with tips and suggestions I managed to get a shot of the fried spinach (below). Talk about small, light, crunchy and so easy to eat too many because they're so good!
- Easy with the salt but don't leave it out! The batter will lack salt even if you add it after so a pinch in the batter is suggested. Not too much oil because you don't want oily food but they do need a sufficient amount of oil to fry in.
- A definite is the kitchen tissue paper - that really does help soak up the oil drippings while you finish the rest.
FRIED SAGE SERVING SUGGESTIONS
- On their own because you can!
- as an antipasto
- with this Mascarpone Cheese Dip (so good!)
This images below, different days, mood, lighting etc. but the same recipe and equally as delicious irrespective! If you love dips then give this mascarpone dip a try because I am sure you will love it!
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MORE QUICK & EASY DIPS
- Perfectly Easy Guacamole Recipe
- Basil Pesto Recipe
- Beetroot Hummus
- Quick and Easy Chickpea Hummus Recipe
- Roasted Red Pepper Dip Recipe
- Chimichurri Sauce
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THANK YOU FOR PINNING!
I hope that you have enjoyed my really easy Fried Sage Recipe! Give it a try and share your photos with us on Instagram bye using the hashtag #anosmickitchen @anosmickitchen.
Fried Sage Leaves (Salvia Fritta)
Ingredients
- 100 grams flour
- pinch of salt
- ¾ cup sparking water more if needed
- ¼ cup oil for frying
- salt & to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil for frying on low to medium heat.
- Combine the flour, salt and sparkling water to make a paste and use a spoon to get the lumps out. It wont be perfectly smooth and it doesn't have to be!
- Increase the heat from low to low to medium. You need hot oil but not boiling please or you have to deal with splatter and burns!
- Holding the sage leaves at the stem dip it into the batter and fry till golden brown on both sides.
- Repeat for all the sage leaves and let the ones already done rest on kitchen tissue paper to collect any oil drippings. Serve with a dip and an extra salt & pepper if necessary.
- If you are making our spinach version use the same recipe. You can bundle the spinach leaves or use one at a time if they are big enough.
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