Crispy Zucchini Flowers Stuffed With Ricotta And Mint Recipes

SQUASH BLOSSOMS STUFFED WITH RICOTTA

Steps:

• Make tomato sauce:
• Cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil in a 2-quarts heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, water, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Prepare squash blossoms:
• Stir together ricotta, yolk, mint, 1/3 cup parmesan, and 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
• Carefully open each blossom and fill with about 2 rounded teaspoon ricotta filling, gently twisting end of blossom to enclose filling. (You may have filling left over.)
• Whisk together flour, remaining 1/3 cup parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and seltzer in a small bowl.
• Heat 1/2 inch oil to 375°F in a 10-inch heavy skillet. Meanwhile, dip half of blossoms in batter to thinly coat. Fry coated blossoms, turning once, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes total. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain. Coat and fry remaining blossoms. (Return oil to 375°F between batches.) Season with salt. Serve with tomato sauce.

JAMIE OLIVERS CRISPY ZUCCHINI FLOWERS STUFFED WITH SPICY RICOTTA AND MINT

Steps:

• Prepare a tray with layers of paper towel.
• Mix the ricotta with all the other filing ingredients until well combined. Taste along the way adjusting the seasoning as you go.
• Put the mixture into a piping bag or a plastic bag with the corner snipped, and pipe this into the middle of the blossom. Gently fold the petals over the mixture to cover and twist at the top to seal
• Add the oil to a large pot to about 10cm deep, and heat to 180C / 350F. This is the temperature before smoking hot but one where if you added a piece of bread it would go golden very quickly.
• While the oil is heating, whisk the flour and soda water until you get the consistency of a runny pancake batter. Add more water or flour if necessary.
• When the oil reaches temperature, quickly dip the stuffed zucchini flowers through the batter and lightly shake off any excess. Gently drop this into the oil and fry on both sides until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat in batches and then fry any additional vegetables or parsley if desired.
• Serve immediately while still hot with wedges of fresh lemon and salt.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Prepare the zucchini blossoms for stuffing by gently opening the leaves and pinching out the stamen inside each flower. Set the blossoms aside.
• For the filling, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a sandwich-size resealable plastic bag and snip a small corner from one point at the bottom.
• Open the leaves of a blossom and pipe in about 1 tablespoon of filling (don't overfill). Gently twist the top of the blossom to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining zucchini blossoms and filling.
• Pour about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat to 360 degrees F. (If you don't have an oil thermometer, you'll know the oil is ready if you drop in a scrap of bread and it sizzles on contact and begins to brown after a few seconds.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• For the batter, whisk the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the seltzer to make a smooth batter.
• When the oil is ready, dip the zucchini flowers in the batter one at a time, letting excess batter drip back into the bowl. Add as many as will fit in the skillet without crowding. Fry, turning once, until the batter is light, crisp and golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon to the lined baking sheet to drain and repeat with the remaining blossoms.
• Serve warm with marinara for dipping.