Fried Zucchini Blossoms With Goat Cheese And Zucchini Pesto Recipes

FRIED CHEESE-STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, water and salt until smooth. Set aside.
• In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, basil, and green onion. Mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons filling into each blossom. Close the blossoms and gently twist the petals to seal.
• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 1 minute.) Dip the stuffed zucchini blossoms in the batter and allow any excess batter to drip off. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Allow the cooked blossoms to drain on paper towels.
• Season with salt and serve with your favorite marinara sauce or vinaigrette.

CRISP ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cover 3/4 tablespoon of the sumac with 1 tablespoon of boiling water and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Add both types of cheese, oregano, walnuts, lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a generous grind of pepper. Mix well.
• Fill the flowers by carefully opening them and either spooning or piping about a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture into each, gently pushing the filling all the way to the bottom of each blossom but being careful not to fill them too much; if you can get someone to hold the flower open for you, it would make it much easier. Gently twist the tips of the petals to secure the filling inside and set aside until you're ready to fry.
• Pour enough oil into a medium (about 8-inch/20-centimeter) nonstick frying pan so that the oil rises about 1 inch/2 centimeters up the sides of the pan. Place on a high heat for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down a fraction.
• Meanwhile, mix the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the sparkling water, whisking continuously to form a smooth batter.
• When bubbles start to surface in the oil, test it by dropping some batter into the oil: if it sizzles, you are ready. (The oil should hover between 320 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit/160 and 180 degrees Celsius.)
• Lower a zucchini blossom into the batter, turning to coat completely, before carefully placing in the hot oil. Repeat, cooking a few blossoms at a time, adjusting the temperature between batches so they take about 30 seconds on each side to turn a golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and then sprinkle with salt and the remaining 1/4 tablespoon sumac. Serve at once with the lemon wedges alongside.

GOAT CHEESE-STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS WITH ZUCCHINI NOODLES

Steps:

• For the blossoms: Heat the oil to 375 degrees F in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
• Combine the goat cheese, Parmesan, parsley and chives in a medium bowl. Season with salt. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag; cut a hole in the bag. Gently pipe the mixture into the zucchini blossoms and pinch the ends together a bit.
• Whisk together the flour and white wine in a medium bowl. Working in batches so you don¿t crowd the pot, dip each blossom into the batter and then carefully place in the hot oil. Cook until lightly puffed and golden, about 3 minutes. Remove the blossoms from the oil and drain on paper towels. Season with salt immediately.
• For the noodles: Coat a large skillet with some olive oil, add the anchovy, garlic, oregano and some red pepper flakes, and turn the heat to medium. When the garlic gets brown and aromatic, remove it from the skillet and discard. Add the tomatoes, some salt, and 1/4 cup water. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the water is reduced by about half.
• Remove the skillet from the heat, add the zucchini noodles and toss until just wilted. Taste and season.
• Toss the arugula with some olive oil and salt and divide it among 4 dinner plates. Top the arugula with some zucchini pasta and 2 zucchini blossoms, shave some Parmesan over the tops, and serve.

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.

DEEP-FRIED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Heat the oil to a frying temperature of 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.
• Wash the flowers and dry thoroughly.
• Put the egg and milk into a shallow dish and whisk to combine. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Sift the flour and cornstarch with a little more salt and pepper into another shallow dish.
• Dip the zucchini blossoms into the egg wash, then dredge in the flour mixture. Plop into the hot oil and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt and pepper and serve.

FRIED BABY ZUCCHINI WITH CHEESE-STUFFED BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Keeping blossoms attached to zucchini, carefully open blossoms and remove pistil from each. Trim stem ends of zucchini, then, beginning 1/4 inch from blossom end, cut a 2-inch slit lengthwise through center of each zucchini, ending 1/4 inch from stem end (slits will help zucchini cook evenly).
• Stir together cheeses, yolk, and oregano in a small bowl until combined well, then season with pepper. Gently open each blossom and fill with 1 to 2 rounded teaspoons of cheese mixture (depending on size of blossoms), then gently twist end of blossom to enclose filling. (You may have leftover filling, depending on size of blossoms.)
• Heat 1/3 inch oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet until it registers 360°F on thermometer (see cooks' note, below), then fry zucchini (with blossoms attached) in 2 batches, turning once, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes per batch. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain. (Return oil to 360°F between batches.) Serve zucchini warm or at room temperature.

FRIED STUFFED SQUASH BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice-cold water. Drop squash blossoms into the boiling water until slightly wilted, 30 to 45 seconds; transfer immediately into the cold water to chill. Remove to paper towels to drain.
• Mix goat cheese, egg yolk, Gruyere cheese, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl; stir until smooth. Spoon filling into a heavy, resealable 1-quart plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and seal the bag. Cut a small corner off the bag.
• Gently insert the cut corner of the bag all the way to the bottom of the open end of a blossom and pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling inside. Pick up petals and drape them up over the filling, covering filling completely. Fold any excess petals over the top of the filled blossom to keep them out of the way. Refrigerate filled squash blossoms until cheese is set and firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Combine self-rising flour and cornstarch in a mixing bowl; whisk in ice-cold water, a little at a time, until batter is smooth and has the thickness of pancake batter.
• Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 1 inch into a heavy skillet (such as a cast iron pan) and place over medium heat. Heat oil until a thermometer placed into the oil, not touching the bottom, reads 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). A drop of batter carefully dripped into the oil should sizzle immediately.
• Remove squash blossoms from refrigerator and dust lightly with all-purpose flour on all sides. Shake off excess flour and dip blossoms in batter. Let excess batter drip off.
• Gently lay coated squash blossoms in the hot oil on their sides; cook about 6 at a time until pale golden brown, 1 minute on the first side and 30 seconds to 1 minute on the remaining sides. Let cool slightly before serving.