I Fiori di Zucca (Zucchini Flowers)

Photo and recipes are from My Life Italian. Thank you!


The entire zucchini flower is edible, completely delicious, and lets you know that summer is just around the corner. They should be easy to find in the larger cities in America. They should be yellow and orange and have a firm shape. If they have too many brown spots, they must be rejected and never see the inside of your kitchen.

FRIED

2 eggs
salt
1 1/4 t of dry active yeast dissolved in 1 cup of lukewarm water
1 cup flour

Beat eggs in a bowl and add dissolved yeast and water and add large pinch of salt. Add flour while shaking it through a strainer and beating the mixture steadily with a fork.

Add the flowers (put enough in the bowl with the batter so there's room to stir) to the batter and mix them gently around to coat. You can do them one at a time, but it's much more efficient this way.

Slip them, one by one, into oil heated to medium-high (the oil should come up a little more than halfway to the flowers). Once they are browned on one side, turn them.

You may have to do this in more than one batch. The pastetta is enough for about 30 flowers. Once they're cooked, let them drain on a paper towel. Try one right away, preferably with a good glass of prosecco, please.

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SAUTEED

30-ish squash blossoms
enough extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan, then a splash more
2 cloves of garlic cut into large chunks (Cut them the size of the tip of your pinkie. If you chop them smaller, they'll burn)

Heat the oil with the garlic to med until the garlic is fragrant, but not brown. Turn up the heat to med high and add the cleaned flowers (They may crowd at first, but they'll wilt considerably.) Sautee them until they are wilted and tender. Add salt and a little peperoncino.
That's it. You will notice that curry smell and flavor and you'll thank me for the recipe.

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