Doights de Fatma / Fatma's Fingers - Tunisian Spring Rolls

Name: Doights de Fatma / Fatma's Fingers - Tunisian Spring Rolls
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 30 fingers
Cuisine: Tunisian & Sahel
Ingredients: 500 g shelled prawns; 700 g ricotta cheese; 0.5 cup fresh cilantro; 0.25 preserved lemon; 1 tbsp capers; 1 tsp tabil; 1 tsp salt; 0.5 tsp harissa; 1 egg; fresh ground black pepper; 30 rectangular phyllo pastry sheets; sunflower oil or vegetable oil

A meze of prawns, ricotta cheese and preserved lemon, seasoned with harissa and baked in the oven.

1 hr 20 min · Serves 30 · Medium

Method

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Time: Prep 60 min · Cook 20 min · 80 min total
Difficulty: medium

1
Put the prawns in a bowl with the cilantro, lemon, capers, spice, salt & harissa. Add the ricotta & mix together using your hands or a wooden spoon.
2
Mix in the egg & the black pepper. Take a sheet of phyllo pastry, fold in half to strengthen. Place a line of filling in the middle of the sheet, then roll up tightly - making sure to tuck the sides over the filling first. You can seal the fingers with a little water - this will stop the oil seeping in & the filling from bubbling out.
3
Pour enough sunflower or vegetable oil into a large frying pan to cover the bottom by 1/2". Heat the oil over a medium heat until it is around 180c, then fry the fingers in batches for around 8-10 minutes or until they are crisp & deep golden, you will need to turn them so that they cook evenly.
10 min
4
Remove the fingers wfrom the oil with a slotted spoon & stand upright on plenty of kitchen paper to drain. Serve warm. (if you do want to make these slightly ahead of time, you can fry them & reheat in the oven but take care not to leave them too long as the prawns will over cook & become rubbery.