Zucchini blossoms are sunshine on a stem. Magnetic but too hot to touch – until now.
Every cook has that elusive dish that is a little bit scary to make. Deep fried zucchini blossoms is mine. I rarely deep fry anything so that concerned me. Then there’s the whole ‘when exactly is the right time to dip the blossoms in the batter’ issue. Friday night, I threw caution to the wind, picked a dozen zucchini blossoms squash blossoms work too and just did it!
Turns out, they are super simple as long as you have a thermometre to check the temperature of the oil and finger licking da-lishous. I photographed them sprinkled with sea salt flakes but after the first bite decided they needed a little grated parm. I kid you not – too die for!
I can feel you asking, ‘uh-huh and where exactly does one find zucchini blossoms, if you don’t have a vegetable garden’. Good question. You could fly to Italy – you’d find them in any vegetable market. Short of that, ask around. Anyone growing zucchini would have an abundance of female blossoms that they’d be happy to give you. It’s so worth the ask!
Deep Fried Zucchini Blossoms -adapted from The River Café “Classic Italian” Cook Book
Makes 12
12 zucchini or small squash blossoms
½ cup Tipo 00 flour – available in Italian grocery stores
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Warm water
1 egg white
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 cups sunflower oil
Grated parmesan for dusting
Mix flour and salt in a medium sized bowl.
Add oil and stir to make a thick paste.
Loosen paste with warm water until mixture resembles a crepe batter. as shown above
Let batter sit for 30 minutes.
Beat egg white until it holds stiff peaks.
Gently fold into flour batter.
Heat sunflower oil in a large deep frying pan.
Use a cooking thermomter to heat oil to 350*F
Dip the blossoms into the batter.
Drop them into the hot fat and fry until golden. Approximately 2 minutes per side
Turn over and repeat. Don’t crowd the blossoms – fry in batches of 4
Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
Serve immediately sprinkled with grated parmesan.
THE LOVE: Make sure you give the batter the 30 minutes to rest to ensure it’s light and crispy when fried.
one year ago: bumbleberry sorbet
two years ago: mango and jalenpeno salsa
Thanks for reading.
