Reader recipe: Whitebait roll

Di Dunnett is the winner of our whitebait reader recipe competition. As expected, most of you prefer your whitebait as fritters, ultra-simple and ultra-light and fluffy, served on white bread with butter and lemon wedges. We chose Di's because it took whitebait beyond the fritter but was still within keeping of those light, fluffy, no over-powering flavours principles. And it makes a little go a long way for a special occasion. Here’s what Di says: “I have been a whitebaiter for 40 years and have cooked those elusive little white critters all ways, but this recipe is very special and enjoyed by all. I made it last week for a relation from Samoa with last year’s whitebait from the freezer and it still tasted superb. Can’t wait for the 15th to start whitebaiting!”

Ingredients

¼ cup	Cream
4 Tbsp	Parmesan cheese, grated
4	Eggs, separated
220 g	Whitebait (Main)
1	Lemon, zested, plus 2 tsp of the juice
100 g	Cream cheese
1 Tbsp	Dill, finely chopped
1 Tbsp	Parsley, finely chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200C. Line and grease a sponge roll tin (approx. 32 x 24). Wash and drain the whitebait.
2. Combine egg yolks with some salt and pepper and cream. Add whitebait, 2 Tbsp of the parmesan and 1 tsp of the lemon juice.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold 2 Tbsp of egg white into the whitebait mix. Gently (so volume is not lost) fold the rest of the egg white into the whitebait mix.
4. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for about 15 minutes.
5. Turn out on to a large sheet of baking paper sprinkled with the rest of the parmesan and leave to cool.
6. Beat cream cheese with lemon zest and herbs and the other tsp of lemon juice and spread over roll. Carefully roll up and chill.
7. To serve cut into slices and decorate with lemon or lime cubes and parsley.

More recipes

For more winning reader recipes,go to this collection.