Italian Food Made Simple

Fried Sage Leaves

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Fried sage leafs lets you enjoy one of the easiest of Italian recipes from an herb you can easily grow in your own garden.

You can do so much more with sage than just chop it up and stir it into a recipe. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But if you haven’t tried fried sage leaves, you’re in for a treat.

These sage leaves are growing in my garden and I find this most quintessential of Italian herbs to be very versatile in my Italian recipes.

“Cur moriatur homo cui salvia crescit in horto?”   -attributed to ancient Romans.

“What man need die when he has sage in the garden.”

Fried sage leaves start with beautiful, velvety green sage picked fresh from your garden many months out of the year.

 

A Sage Primer

Sage has been used for centuries for medicinal purposes. The Romans used it as a curative to treat depression, fever,  mouth and throat infections, even snake and insect bites. They called it herba sacra or sacred herb. Its Latin name salvare  means to be saved. Sage combines well with prosciutto and veal to make saltimbocca. It’s a key ingredient in the famous dish of Venice: liver and onions. And it pairs well with poultry and beans. Sage is one of the most popular, versatile herbs in the Italian kitchen.

So the two pictures above show sage growing in a pot in my garden and then washed and dried ready to fry. It’s just such a beautiful, velvety leaf.

Most winters sage leaves will survive the cold and rejuvenate themselves, with a little pruning, so that they can enhance recipes and such as fried sage leaves.

Sage is really a durable herb as it will not die during a snowy, wintry winter. That’s also my sage in the picture above surviving our polar vortex.

This fried sage batter is very easy to make.

Once you’ve cleaned and gently dried your sage leaves, make the batter of equal parts flour, sparkling water and beer. Then refrigerate the batter for at least one hour. The key is having a cold batter coating the leaves as they enter oil that’s been heated to at least F. 350 degrees. Keep your eye on the leaves, as they only need about 30 seconds to fry. Rub a little oil on your tongs so that the sage leaves don’t stick to them as you turn the leaves over in the batter.

The sage leaves don't take long to fry up and you should use a candy thermometer to keep the temperature up.

Drain the fried sage on paper towels. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with a crisp cold glass of white wine…or whatever. And enjoy.

These fried sage leaves won't last long.

Print

Fried Sage Leaves

Yield: 40 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 20-25 fresh sage leaves
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup sparkling water
  • 1 cup beer
  • oil for frying

Directions:

  1. Wash and dry the sage leaves
  2. Combine the flour, water and beer in a large bowl and gently stir to combine
  3. Refrigerate the batter for at least one hour
  4. Heat about two inches of oil in a pan to 350 degrees on a candy thermometer
  5. Remove the batter from the fridge and, working quickly, dunk a sage into the batter, then lower it into the hot oil
  6. Fry until lightly brown and crispy and lay across paper towels to drain.
  7. Salt and serve

 

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