Summer is in full effect! Not sure what it’s like where you are, but if it’s anything like here, it’s hot AF. And while I love just about all summer produce, peaches, corn, tomatoes, I could go on, squash blossoms are one I wait for all year long. I do my best to try and savor them while they last. Every year I plant a bunch of zucchini knowing full well that all the plants will get killed by squash vine borers long before I can get any actual zucchini from them. But, it’s still totally worth it, ‘cause I can get plenty of flowers to eat before that happens. And I’ll take all the flowers I can get. (On a side note, if anyone has a good method to deal with vine borers that works for them, let me know. I’ll take all the help I can get!)
While there are many ways to savor those delectable blossoms, such as in a salad, made into fritters, added to an omelet, pickled and used in a quesadilla (another one of my faves), simply fried and stuffed with some fresh ricotta has gotta be it! And, while you’re at it, fry up some sage leaves to go with, you’ll be greatly rewarded for your efforts. Fry em up, pour a cold beer and eat them while they’re still hot. Truly one of the great pleasures in life!
Summer is in full effect! Not sure what it’s like where you are, but if it’s anything like here, it’s hot AF. And while I love just about all summer produce, peaches, corn, tomatoes, I could go on, squash blossoms are one I wait for all year long. I do my best to try and savor them while they last.
Stuffed Fried Squash Blossoms
Ingredients
- 6 squash blossoms really as many as you want and can get your hands on
- 8 sage leaves
- 1 c fresh ricotta
- salt
- fresh pepper
- 1/2 c flour
- 1/2 c ice water you could also use very cold bubbly water or better yet beer
- 1 c olive oil for frying
- flakey salt
Instructions
- First up, get your blossoms all prepped. Wipe off any dirt, check for bugs and remove the stamens. Those long tubes covered with pollen inside. You don’t HAVE to do this, but they can get bitter and don’t really taste great. Plus, it’ll give you more room for the ricotta filling.
- To make your ricotta filling, mix your ricotta and season generously with salt and pepper. Feel free to add any other seasoning you like. I like mine pretty basic, but go wild if you want. Stuff your filling into a pastry bag, small ziplock bag with the end snipped off, or just use a small spoon to stuff the blossoms full of that delish cheese filling. Aim for about halfway full. You want to be able to twist the end of the blossom together after it’s stuffed to seal it up.
- Ok, now we batter and fry. Get a pan pre heated over medium-high heat and add in about 1/2” of oil. I recommend using a small pan for this so you don’t need to use a ton of oil.
- Combine your ice water and flour together. Whisk to combine. You want the batter to be about the consistency of heavy cream. Add a little more water or flour if you need to. Then drag those stuffed squash blossoms and sage leaves through the batter to coat and gently place in the oil and fry for about 3 mins per side. You want the batter to get slightly golden brown and crispy.
- Remove them from the oil and strain on paper towel and sprinkle with flakey salt while everything is still piping hot.
- Then, serve em up! I recommend having these with an ice cold beer, but really anything cold and bubbly is a good bet here.
