Fried Zucchini or Squash Flowers

Submitted by JenPo

"I had this at a restaurant in Greece and I loved it, so I am saving this until my mother's garden produces something to fry. I don't remember where I found it, somewhere on the internet though."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 12 flowers
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 12 squash blossoms (zucchini blossoms)
• 5 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into strips the legnth of the flowers
• vegetable oil (for frying)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg, separated
• 5 tablespoons dry white wine
• 2⁄3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt (optional)

directions

1. Combine flour, egg yolk, wine, water, and salt. Whisk ingredients until they form a thin batter. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. Open the calyx (the outermost green ring) on each flower and remove the pistils (the little inner stalk). Carefully rinse each flower under cold water and pat dry.
3. Whisk the egg white into small peaks and fold it into the batter.
4. Place a mozzerella stick inside each flower and secure it with a toothpick.
5. Heat 1/2 an inch of oil in a frying pan (on about medium-high, but not too hot).
6. Coat the flowers in the batter and fry them about a minute in oil until they are golden. Drain on paper towels.

Reviews

[MTLcook]

This recipe is 5 star! I was in a bit of a rush so I didn't have time to separate the eggs or refrigerate the batter... I just whisked it all together and it was still awesome. I didn't have wine or mozzarella stocked, so my version was really simplified (not that it was any less delicious!) The HB thought I was nuts, until he tried one in a bread bun... Now he says we should have them at least once a week. My only suggestion would be that if you're used to having salt in your food, it's really not optional in this recipe; also, add a dash of pepper and use milk instead of water for the batter! Adding any strong flavored seasoning would be a no no in this recipe because of the subtle flavors of the flower.

 

[jerome.a.fried]

It was a good recipe - I tried several variations with the stuffing and the batter, including beets, sausage (Italian sweet), and cheese. It makes for a great wrapper as a prep step for another more complex dish. Very useful.

 

[Red Dog]

I went to the Farmers' Market today and bought a nice size bag of squash flowers, figuring I'd just flour and fry them. Then I found your recipe and decided to give it a try. It came out very, very good. The batter was easy to make, and fried up nice and crispy. I originally left out the salt, but then added it to the batter later, and it tasted much better. I only had shredded mozzarella, so I used this to stuff the blossoms with. Next time I will make sure to have the block mozzarella cut into strips, as it was hard to get enough cheese into each blossom using the shredded mozzarella.