Squash blossoms (aka zucchini blossoms) are an edible flower popular amongst fine dining chefs as a natural wrapper for pan fried and deep fried fillings.
Stuffed Squash Blossom Recipes to Try:
Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossom Recipes:
Ricotta, Herb & Lemon Squash Blossoms
Goat Cheese, Almond, Cranberry & Honey Squash Blossoms
Goat Cheese, Pine Nut, Orange & Fennel Pollen Squash Blossoms
Mousse Stuffed Squash Blossom Recipes:
Shrimp Mousseline Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Risotto Stuffed Squash Blossom Recipes
Parmigiano Reggiano Risotto Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Basic Tips for Developing Your Own Recipes:
1. Be gentle with squash blossoms, and use them as soon as possible. They’re very perishable, and rather fragile. For most fillings we recommend using a piping bag technique (see how to stuff squash blossoms).
2. Because the blossoms don’t really have any flavor of their own, your filling needs to bring strong flavors to the package. Cheese (usually ricotta and/or goat) based fillings are the most common, but you can also use raw meat & fish mousses or even cooked risotto.
3. Take care not to overstuff the blossoms. A good rule of thumb is to only fill them up to the point where the four petals diverge from the main body of the flower.
4. Once stuffed, squash blossoms are great tempura battered and deep fried or pan fried (with or without a bread crumb coating). While cheese and risotto based fillings can be cooked via any of these methods, we recommend deep frying mousse-filled blossoms to make sure the filling gets completely cooked.
5. Leafy greens and fresh herbs are great additions to a squash blossom platter. They give you something lighter to eat, and their bright color accentuates the beauty of the blossoms.
6 . Sauces to dip or drizzle are recommended.
Other Ways to Enjoy Squash Blossoms:
The blossoms themselves have an extremely mild but pleasant flavor and a crisp texture. In addition to being stuffed and fried, they can also be used raw as a salad ingredient or garnish, or cooked (steamed or sautéed) to bring color to dishes like pasta primavera and risotto.