Squash Blossom Suggestions

September 15, 2017 1:15 PM

I just got 8 fresh, fat squash blossoms at the farmers market.

I don't have history eating them, other than the last time I had them from the market I stuffed them with cheese and fried them.

Any suggestions on how I should prepare them? I'm an experienced cook with access to Mexican, southeast Asian, Italian, Somali and other markets and ingredients.

Not too time consuming is preferred, I know they need to be cooked tonight and I am also making several other dishes today.

posted by littlewater to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Stuff with ricotta or hummus. Sauté some diced onion and garlic in oil of your choice. Once everything is nearly browned and ready, add the stuffed blossoms and sauté for about a minute on either side. (Keep flipping till it looks right.) Sea salt and ground pepper to taste.
posted by amaire at 1:22 PM on September 15, 2017

I might simply drizzle a little of my favorite simple salad dressing on them and munch raw so as to most fully appreciate the delicate flavor and texture.

If that didn't seem fun or fancy enough, maybe I'd use the stuffing idea above and make little salad burrito things with some sprouts and fancy tender greens.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:31 PM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

What if you stuffed them with precooked polenta, chiles, and cheese, battered them with a beer/flour/salt batter and fried them? You can get that pre-cooked polenta in the can, pre-chopped jalapenos, and preshredded cheese.

Short of that I'd toss them in flour, paprika and salt and float them in a soup or throw them on a salad.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:36 PM on September 15, 2017

I mix ricotta and lemon zest. Optional: also add some poppy seeds. Take the pistils out of the flowers, pipe the ricotta in. . Then I take either a dry prepackaged begniet mix or tempura flour and mix with club soda/seltzer until just wet. It is a thin batter.

Drunk the stuffed flowers then immediately into a hot cast iron pan with an inch or two of veggie oil, hot.

Cook until brown on one side, gently and delicately flip and cook until nicely toasted on the other. Drain on a plate with paper towels on it and lightly salt (a flaked sea salt like Maldons does well).
posted by slateyness at 1:38 PM on September 15, 2017

Pro-tips imparted to me from a grandmother in Rieti, central Italy: stuff with a little cube of reggiano or other high-quality hard cheese, batter and fry. Include a little grappa in the batter.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:05 PM on September 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

I had "Squash Blossom Rangoon" at Girl and the Goat here in Chicago that was basically cream cheese and crab stuffed inside, then tempura battered and fried. It was pretty amazing.
posted by terilou at 3:25 PM on September 15, 2017 [1 favorite]

Stuff with ricotta, a pinch each of oregano and salt, sautee ever so gently.

Nom.
posted by bilabial at 5:07 PM on September 15, 2017

My friend did squash blossom tempura and we just ate them. They don't require much.
posted by yueliang at 1:51 AM on September 16, 2017