Fried Squash Blossoms

Fried squash blossoms from Dear Handmade LifeThis year at Casa Delstavo, we really focused on having a garden that produced food. I started growing things from seed and literally planted as much as we could in every space we could find. We took out about ¼ of our front lawn and used the space to grow larger items like corn, peas and squash. Looks like the squash liked it because it has covered ½ of our front yard!

We have yet to see our squash but we are seeing beautiful blossoms!

I’ve seen fried squash blossoms a few times and I figured that I would give this a go and I came up with this recipe—which was a little freestyle, hence I had leftovers which I used to stuff into a zucchini from our CSA basket.

-Delilah Snell

Fried squash blossoms from Dear Handmade Life

Fried squash blossoms from Dear Handmade LifeFried squash blossoms from Dear Handmade Life

Fried squash blossoms from Dear Handmade LifeTIP: Squash plants have female (which will produce the squash) and male flowers. Eat the male flowers since the females will grow the squash.

Just make sure that you:
1) Remove the inner pistol from the center of the flower and
2) Don’t remove all of the male flowers or the bees won’t be able to pollinate the female flowers. Male squash flowers have narrow stems that are long and stand up from the main part of the plant whereas female flowers are short, close to the plant and you may see a small bulb below the flower base (this is where the squash will grow).

Fried squash blossoms from Dear Handmade Life

Fried Squash Blossoms
Ingredients
  • 10 to 15 blossoms
  • 16 oz ricotta cheese
  • ½-1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • Chopped chives
  • Chopped parsley
  • 1 hot pepper minced (optional)
  • BATTER (any thin batter will work so if you have a recipe, that is fine to use)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup water
  • oil (for frying)
Instructions
  1. Gather the flowers, remove the pistol and gently clean—there might be bees and other insects and the flowers are very delicate so be careful. Set the flowers aside.
  2. In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeses, egg, herbs and spices and mix well.
  3. Make the batter—it should be on the thin side, just enough to cover the flower but not super heavy as the flowers are very delicate.
  4. One-by-one gently open the flowers and stuff with a spoonful of the cheese mix. Twist the top of the flower so it remains closed.
  5. Once all the flowers are filled, add oil to a frying pan (cast iron is preferred) and set to just below high heat.
  6. Once the oil is shimmering, dip flowers in batter and directly to the pan until the pan is full.
  7. Fry for 3-5 minutes or until the batter is golden brown and crispy. Flip blossoms over so that the entire flower is browned.
  8. Serve with marinara sauce.

 

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