Years ago, I asked Ann for her recipe. She gave me a list of ingredients and told me to mix them together until the batter looked right. This will come as no surprise, but my first run at frying my own zucchini flowers was an epic failure. Matt will eat just about anything that's fried, and even he found them inedible. I haven't really tried again since then, so I was very excited to give Dorie's zucchini blossom recipe a try.
Technically, Dorie's recipe is for Shrimp-Filled Zucchini Blossoms. I'm sure that's delicious, but here in Naples, I've only seen zucchini blossoms come with one filling: cheese. In my ongoing effort to learn to duplicate things I love from my time here, I decided to follow Dorie's cheese-filled variation instead of the shrimp one.
Finding zucchini blossoms was easy. Italians are crazy for these things (with good reason). They actually sell fresh packs of them at the supermarket. Or so I thought. I didn't realize until I got home, that I'd actually bought fiore di zucca. Pumpkin. Not zucchini. Oh well, no big deal. I couldn't tell the difference.
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| I don't know what army I thought I would feed with this many flowers. We wasted quite a few. |
Is club soda the same as sparkling water? I don't think so. I used sparkling water, because that is what the lady in my Italian cooking class uses. If it's good enough for Vera, it's good enough for me.
This batter fried up perfectly. These flowers were crispy and delicious. I'll always love Ann's zucchini flowers best, because they're made out of love, but this is now my go-to recipe when I need to fry flowers--or any other vegetable, for that matter--myself. The cheese filling was, frankly, better than a lot of what I've eaten at restaurants around here. Well done, Dorie.
Matt said this was one of his favorite dinners in ages. All hail my beloved zucchini flowers!
I would have thought zucca was zucchini! I'll never tell ;) So glad these were a hit at your house, too!
ReplyDeleteYay for success!
ReplyDeleteThis army would gladly eat all those blossoms :-) Pumpkin, squash. Who cares which type they are when cheese and frying are involved...
What a great story. We loved this batter, too. And it will definitely be our go-to for Tempura.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky to find the blossoms in the grocery store! I love that your little one recites Green Eggs and Ham as he tries something new. Lovely blossoms and a fun post!
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely in the right country for zucchini flowers... what a wonderful childhood memory. I ate a lot of them as a kid too. I love how Ann told you to mix it until it looked right. that sounds like the kinds of recipes I would get from my grandmother.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. I will have to make these when I find the elusive zucchini blossoms. I agree with Cher, cheese and frying are good.
ReplyDeleteYou're finally in exactly the right place for exactly the right ingredients! And how exciting that you finally got to tackle this childhood favorite. I did the ricotta filling too and it was absolutely delicious. My reasoning was more to do with laziness though, I wasn't in the mood to devein the shrimp.
ReplyDeleteYour pumpkin flowers look the same as zucchini flowers to me too. I also used spakling water. Glad your famly enjoyed these old favourites!
ReplyDeleteWhat an exotic and sophisticated childhood favorite! I recently looked up the difference between sparkling water, club soda, and seltzer and decided they are basically the same. I love that Charlie recites Green Eggs & Ham. My mother used to recite it to us when we wouldn't try something new, and now my sisters and I do it ourselves. Great post, Ei!
ReplyDeleteA squash is a squash, really, so I think pumpkin would taste much the same as zucchini. Lovely that you were able to connect this with a lovely memory and pass the same onto the next generation.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific post! And what great memories. I was never able to find blossoms, so none for me. But yours look delicious, I'm so happy you enjoyed them!!
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