Ricotta and Cream Cheese Zucchini Flowers

Zucchini Flowers 

  My first season making these delicious edible flowers took me by surprise. I never knew just how tasty they would be. Thinking about my own garden I decided to make them a summer icon in my kitchen. They turned out so delicious, I decided to  make a recipe video. I had a great time sharing, although there were several glitches in the video. Still, I felt it would make a great celebration of food for new friends I met this summer.

  I just love when these beauties are just about to bloom because it makes it easier to to fill and they have such a delicate flavor. The best way to pick a squash flower is to hold it at the bottom of the bud and gently snap it off the stem. It will be on top to the stem which makes it quite simple. Be careful not to bruise the flowers, some of them are fragile. Now some of them will easily fall off since they did not pollinate. The zucchini flowers are my favorite and are a bit sturdy. Plus I love the intense flavor with the filling. When you have picked several, then take each flower and take the center of the flower out, which I call the pollinator, but it's actually called the stigma. Although it's quite nice to keep them in. But I always pull them out. Gently rinse each flower to remove any particles and gnats. If you have an organic garden, then most likely you will have bees in them, so please be very careful. Now the fun is prepping them for cooking.

Fried Ricotta and cream Cheese Zucchini Flowers!

Mise-en-place

12 - 15 Squash Flowers

1/2 cup Cornstarch

1/2 cup All purpose flour

1 teaspoon Baking powder

1/4 teaspoon Ground pepper or Cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon Sea salt

3/4 cup Club soda 

1 Beaten egg

  Set squash flowers aside. Thoroughly mix the following ingredients into a batter and place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile you will need a piping bag which can be found in a craft store or you can find them on line. And you will need a pastry tip.

Filling the Flowers

1/2 cup Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Cream cheese

2 tablespoons Chiffonade Basil leaf

1 teaspoon dry Oregano

1 tablespoon Seasoned Breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese

  Mix all ingredients and place into the piping bag with the pastry tip. Make sure the tip is placed into the bag before filling it with the cheese filling. 

Zucchini Flowers in batter

  Heat 1/4 cup of cooking oil. I like using a mixture of  canola oil with extra virgin olive oil. Make sure the oil is hot enough by testing it with a drop of batter. If it sizzles it's ready to be used. Place the filled flowers in the batter and gently roll them making sure that they are thoroughly covered. 

Frying Zucchini Flowers

 Gently place each battered flower in the pan away from you, making sure the oil is not splattered. Be careful! Fry 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden. 

Delicious Fried Ricotta Cream Cheese Zucchini Flowers

Enjoy!!