I love going to the Farmers Market, more in the summer than any other time. It seems like the produce changes out every two weeks. This day I ran down at the very end and saw these amazing squash blossoms and had to try them out. The farmer gave me two full baskets for the price of one. Tip: go at the very end for good deals. Go at the beginning if you need the best and lots of it.
So I texted SB to look up a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms, I was bound and determined and knew I'd need more ingredients when I got home. So I gathered the filling ingredients, cheeses, Ricotta and Parmesan were top on my list. To be honest I had to look up a YouTube video to figure out how to put this together, especially taking out the innards. YouTube it away or Bing it and you'll find the perfect tutorial.
Here's what the inside looks like of a squash blossom.
Gently pull out the stamen inside, you'll see it when you try to open the blossom.
Here's what the empty squash blossoms looked like with out the stamen.
Here's what the innard stamen's look like. No use for them, accept I thought they were pretty.
Filling had ricotta and Parmesan cheese, pinch of salt and chopped parsley.
Fully dip or immerse them in the tempura batter.
Quick fry em up. I would use grapeseed oil in the future, only thing I didn't like was the canola oil taste.
These were delicious. Rich and cheesy and I loved the green zuchini, I would definitely leave them on when you make this.
Here's the recipe:
Stuffing:
1 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup parmessan
pinch of salt
chopped parsley
Tempura Batter:
Canola Oil (I would use Grapeseed oil next time)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup Chilled Pilsner, lager-style beer, or club soda (I used Hanger 24 Orange Wheat Beer) - You may need more to get the right consistency.
Zucchini blossoms (stamens removed; about 16)
Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together for the tempura batter. Chill for a few minutes.
Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and set aside. I like the flavors to meld.
Gently pull the stamens from the blossoms and you can either cut the green zuchini off or leave it on. I prefer the green it was delicious.
Gently put in about 1 tablespoon of cheese per blossom. More if it fits and delicately twist the blossom so the ingredients stay in.
Heat oil in a deep pan about 1 inch deep, needs to be really hot about 350. Test with a bread crumb. If it fries quickly then your good to go.
Take batter out of refrigerator and mix well, may need to add more beer or club soda to get a good consistency for coating. Dip each stuffed squash blossom and fully coat in the tempura batter and start frying them up. It's a quick fry.
Make sure you turn them over to get it all fried up. Do this in batches to make sure the oil stays hot.
Drain on a paper towel, salt and serve. Enjoy!
