Tomatokeftédes - Tomato fritters with feta and oregano

Most of the dishes in agricultural regions were created with a simple rule: use what you have, but not all of your ingredients in one recipe. Cooking tasty dishes with simple ingredients is creative and challenging; creative because there are endless variations and techniques, proving that cooking is an art form and challenging because you might have to feed a crowd of hard to please...children.
Let’s take an example, Greek salad. On hot summer days a tomato salad with onion, feta, oregano and olive oil can be an ideal lunch, but if you had some tomato fritters too, wouldn't that be more filling? Just finely chop, part of your Greek salad, mix it with some self rising flour and egg and you have ready to fry tomatokeftédes, as simple as it sounds!
Tomato fritters were invented in Santorini. The volcanic soil and the dry climate of the island  combine to create some excellent quality products like their local tomatoes. Since we are not lucky to live in Santorini and taste these wonderful tomatoes, we can add some tomato paste to the fritters batter to have a more intense flavor. 

Tomatokeftédes

200gr finely chopped ripe tomatoes
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 egg beaten
100gr self raising flour
1tsp tomato paste (optional)
100gr crushed feta cheese
½ tsp dry oregano, or to taste
salt and pepper

In a sieve let the chopped tomatoes drain to get rid of excess juices, for 10-15min and discard these juices.  
In a bowl mix the tomatoes, onion, tomato paste, feta, egg, and oregano and season with some salt and pepper. Add the flour all at once and mix until the flour is totally incorporated into the batter.
If you have time, let it stand for 30min.
 Heat 1 cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, gently drop spoonfuls of batter  into the hot oil, and cook both sides until golden about 3-4min. Cook the fritters in batches if needed. Then remove and drain on paper towels before transferring to a platter.