Squash Blossoms
Jack and I were invited for dinner to the home of our friends Jerry and Amy, who live in the country just an hour south of Minneapolis. Because Jerry has a vegetable garden, the dinner he made for us came from the produce he harvested from his garden and from the free-range chickens he raises. In the photo below you can see Jer, giving us a tour through his garden and has already picked some squash blossoms for me.
Blossoms can be picked from any squash, whether summer or winter variety but zucchini blossoms are the ones used the most often. In a book titled, Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables by Elizabeth Schneider (published in 1998), I learned that only the male blossoms should be picked, leaving the females to develop squash. It’s easy to tell the difference between the sexes because the male blossoms are on stems and the female blossoms are attached to baby squash. You can see a male blossom on the right in the photo below and some female blossoms on the left.
Squash blossoms make a pretty garnish on any vegetable platter. They can also be steamed, baked or fried plain or stuffed and then fried. I decided to try a recipe from Schneider’s book for Fried Cheese-Stuffed Squash Blossoms. (Recipe is at the end of this post.)
Start with a mixture of ricotta cheese, pine nuts, parsley, basil, and Parmesan cheese. Remove the stamen from the inside of each blossom. Carefully stuff each blossom with a teaspoonful or two of the cheese filling being careful not to break the delicate petals of the blossom. Twist petals closed to seal in filling.
Dip each stuffed blossom into a batter and then place in vegetable oil that has been heated to 375° F. The blossoms tasted just like, the squash it came from. Don’t fry them for longer than 30 to 45 seconds per side or they will absorb too much oil and taste greasy.
Fried Cheese-Stuffed Squash Blossoms
(Taken from, Uncommon Fruits & Vegetables by Elizabeth Schneider)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup flour
½ pound ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons minced parsley
3 tablespoons minced basil leaves
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
20 good-sized squash blossoms, opened, rinsed, dried, with stamens removed
Oil for frying
1. Prepare batter: Combine water and salt in small bowl. Sift in flour, beating rapidly with fork or whisk until just mixed. Cover with a towel and let stand at least 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, place ricotta in a sieve over a bowl to drain and reach room temperature—about an hour. Toast nuts in a 325 oven until golden, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully; they will burn quickly.
3. Combine parsley, basil, Parmesan, nuts, and ricotta in small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Gently fill each blossom with a heaping teaspoon of the mixture, pushing it in carefully, so as not the break the flower. Twist petals closed to seal in filling.
4. Heat an inch of vegetable oil in a wide skillet to 375°F. Stir batter and coat 5 blossoms with it. Fry until golden, 30-45 seconds; turn over and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels, sprinkle with salt and serve at once. Continue until all flowers have been fried.
4 appetizer servings