How to Fry Zucchini Blossoms

You know what's disappointing? Clipping a recipe Nine Whole Years Ago (9!), saving it meticulously for Just The Right Occasion, finally getting to That Blessed Moment, and realizing that the recipe is A Total Dud. D. U. D.

Oh! There was so much potential. First of all, the recipe came from Molly O'Neill, back when she had a column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Illustrious provenance, for sure. Second of all, it involved whole fish, Greek yogurt, red lentils, and marjoram, roasted in the oven. I know! Does that sound good, or what? Third of all, I'd been saving it for nine years. That's practically a third of my life! That number alone should have guaranteed deliciousness, I think.

But instead, after smearing yogurt all over a bunch of fish (red snapper because there was no striped bass to be found), stuffing them with marjoram and garlic, salting and peppering them well, arranging them on a (perplexing) bed of cooked red lentils, and roasting those suckers until they were crispy and browned, all they ended up tasting like was...nothing.

Now if you know anything about red lentils, you'll know that once they're cooked, they look nothing like their cute, coral selves from the package. They turn into a pallid yellow mush that one of my friends kind enough to share the meal last night actually likened to baby poop. (Oops! I swore to myself last night I wouldn't reference that on this website. I think I might have had too much to drink last night, too.) Now, of course, they can taste rather nice, provided they've been cooked with something, like minced onions and tomatoes and curry powder, or, I dunno, a few sweet potatoes and ginger. But just boiled? Boiled red lentils? Taste like nothing. Roasted in the oven at 500 degrees Fahrenheit? Nothing, crisped.

Then there's the matter of the Greek yogurt. What on earth did smearing it on and in the fish do? I still don't know. The fish sure didn't taste like the yogurt. In fact, once the fish were done, you could barely even see the yogurt anymore. It's like it evaporated into thin air! Or into very hot oven air. As for the eight whole garlic cloves and twelve sprigs of marjoram? I don't know if you'll believe me, but you must: I couldn't taste any of it. And I don't have a cold, either. The fish tasted like...red snapper. Roasted in the oven. Plain. As in, PLAIN. So it was edible, I guess, but oh, so disappointing.

Very luckily for all of us at dinner last night, my friend Betsy had the eminently sensible idea of overruling me at the market a few days earlier (I said they'd be too much work. Readers, I am a fool!) and buying a big package of zucchini flowers, which she stuffed with mozzarella and a dab or two of olive paste and fried into crispy, crunchy, golden deliciousness. With a cool glass of Sancerre, they made for a far better dinner.

Okay, so a quick recipe for those of you who have yet to fry your own zucchini blossoms:

Buy a bunch of fresh zucchini blossoms from an organic farmer so you don't have to worry too much about washing off chemicals. They should not be wilted or browned, but rather look like they were just picked, all vibrant with color. Buy a nice, firm mozzarella. This is not the time for bufala, which is too wet and milky. If you want to be totally traditional, buy some salted anchovies. If not, get a bit of olive paste, also known as tapenade. Oh, and you'll need some nice flaky salt, a few eggs, a plate of flour, and a couple of inches of frying oil (you can use olive oil, but not extra-virgin, or just regular vegetable oil).

Pour the oil into a saute pan with sides, like this one, to the height of one or two inches. Check the blossoms to make sure they're clean and brush off any dirt you might see. Cut the mozzarella into little batons. Rinse the anchovies and cut them in half, if you're using them. Beat 2 eggs in a shallow dish, and pour flour into another dish. Working with one blossom at a time, gently open the blossom end and push in a baton of mozzarella. Then slide in half an anchovy, or a small spoonful of olive paste. Twist the top of the blossom shut. Repeat with the remaining blossoms. Turn the heat on under the pan and while the oil heats up, dip each blossom in the egg to coat, making sure the top of the blossom remains twisted shut, and then dip it in the flour to coat. Repeat with as many blossoms as you'd like to prepare (as an appetizer, consider two or three per person).

When the oil is hot but not smoking (you can gently drop something into the oil to test if it's hot enough - if it is, it'll start fizzing and frying), gently slip the battered blossoms into the oil. Don't crowd the pan (the 10-incher we used last night fit five blossoms at a time). Fry for three to four minutes on each side, turning only once with tongs. While the blossoms fry, line a few plates with some layered paper towels. When the blossoms are golden brown on both sides, remove them to the paper towels. Sprinkle them with flaky salt and eat them immediately. Well, wait a minute so you don't burn the roof of your mouth, but not more than that. (Oh, and make sure you have a glass of nice, cold white wine nearby.) I think you'll find they're difficult to stop eating and not nearly as much work as you think they are.

There! I've already forgotten about that silly fish and those silly, silly lentils. My work here is done. Have a lovely evening, folks!

Oh, wait, one more thing. If you often find yourself wondering (which I'm sure you do, right?) what on earth I eat on those days when I'm not slaving away in the kitchen or munching on fried zucchini blossoms, head on over to Gourmet.com (!), where I talk with the lovely Sari Lehrer about rancid butter, Canadian yogurt, the glory that is Mexican salsa verde, and the cheapest meal in New York City.

Comments

[Sharmila]

I've never eaten zucchini blossoms before so they've never entered my thoughts for cooking...but stuffed with mozzarella and olive paste?? I'm intrigued! I really want to see if I can fry these intact without spills.
Loved reading your Gourmet food-day-in-the-life!

[Gabrielle]

I had a very similar dinner disaster recently, homemade herb chicken stock, lots of vegetables, a whole bulb of garlic and the soup tasted like ... water! I feel your disapointment.

I've been reading your blog for a while, thanks for all the excellent dinners you have inspired :)

[elizabeth]

Mmmm--fried blossoms! This was something I took full advantage in Italy, and I hope to stumble on some here soon.

I'm not a fan of the red lentils--the French kind are the only ones we keep in the house because they have the best texture when cooked (i.e. al dente), and the idea of blasting heat onto cooked lentils seems odd.

But what makes you fabulous is that you hang onto these clippings and try them out--and reporting on disasters is almost more helpful than reporting on the successes!

[Adrienne]

Hm.... now if only I can get to the market in time to FIND the zucchini blossoms. These sound wonderful :)

[ciaochowlinda]

I've made these with mozzarella and anchovies, but never olive paste. Sounds intriguingly good.

[Shauna from Piece of Cake]

Okay, the zucchini blossoms look and sound divine, but HEY NOW! Look at you, in Gourmet, in my very favorite voyeuristic column. Hooray!

[Christina]

Yeah, I'm with ciaochowlinda, I stuff with anchovy, but olive paste sounds really GOOD.

[KT]

What a great post! Isn't it a bummer when a recipe doesn't meet expectations? Such a letdown. But those times are balanced out by the wonderful surprise hits like the zucchini blossoms... I didn't even realize they were edible, let alone a delicacy. Love your blog.

[Jen]

Oooh, these sound so good! I've always wanted to try making them, but like you, I thought they would be too much work! This might be just the thing to push me into making them!

[anna]

Ooh I've always wanted to try zucchini blossoms. Someday I'll get around to it, they do look yummy!

[Kelly]

I had a very similar experience last night! I found a recipe for chicken with broccoli rabe, and polenta. It smelled good, it looked OK, and I couldn't even finish a plate of it. SUCH the bummer. Loved your article in Gourmet and glad to know you buy cheap lunches too :)

[TheKitchenWitch]

I get cranky when my dinner is a lackluster facsimile of what I expected...I think I actually pout and stomp my foot.

Red lentils are the only lentils my Indian MIL will cook/eat. They do turn mushy though...which is why my husband detests them. I like them in dal, though.

Great to see your interview in Gourmet! Exciting! And a $3.75 baguette had better be pretty freaking amazing before I'd buy it again...

[Sue in SC]

Hey,

Just found your blog-yay.

I'm in the South. Fried anything is fine with me. Squash blossoms grow quick and easy, even in a pot on the porch.

[The Leftoverist]

What a beautiful photo of you in the Gourmet piece!

Have you ever seen that book "Everything I Ate," where that NYC guy takes photos of EVERYTHING for a year? I love that book. Reading your Day on a Plate was a little taste of that.

[Melanie]

I've always wanted to do something with those zucchini blossoms at the farmer's market, but never knew quite what. So thanks.

And I also love Mariage Freres tea - particularly Wedding Imperial. I'm not much tempted to go to Paris, but I have thought about it just to visit their shop.

[la ninja]

oh no, that must have been such a let down (particularly after the building up of expectations all these years.) thank god for zucchini blossoms, though. hooray!

I totally identify with the bouts of righteousness trying to take home-made lunch to work. it works sometimes, for a bit (as in two days. tops.)

@ melanie, should you visit the shop in paris, make sure it's the oldest one in le marais area.

[Barbara]

Great- a recipe for fried zucchini blossoms! They look wonderful. Thank you!

[Lisa (dinner party)]

Oh yum. Glad you found at least one dish that was worth the trouble! I sometimes make mine with goat cheese mixed with herbs like basil, and ricotta works well too if you strain it a bit so it's not so watery.

[Anne Marie]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saves recipes for so long! I really appreciate the detail in your squash blossom recipe. You've gone a long way toward making sure we all are free of disappointment when we try one of your recipes!

...and thanks to Sue in SC in the comment above for the tip on raising squash blossoms in a pot on the porch. Looks like a good project for next year!

[ann]

I made my first ever batch of zucchini blossoms this summer too. My recipe was different, involving goat cheese and a seltzer lightened flour batter, but the result was the same. Insane deliciousness! In fact, I'm never allowed to make them again without a full house of guests because I did, and will, eat them all. Too bad about the fish, but who needs fish when there are zucchini blossoms about!

[Dawn in CA]

Oh yum... I love zucchini blossoms. Last weekend I got a huge bag of them at our farmer's market for a dollar! SCORE! We fried some stuffed with cheese, added some to scrambled eggs, and even tried them in a variation of tamales - stuffed with blossoms and cheese then fried instead of steamed. All very tasty. But alas... I forgot the wine! Silly me.

[everybodyever]

Funny you should post this now -- after seeing the boxes of flowers at Grand Army Plaza for a couple of weeks, I made them myself for the first time ever on Thursday.

Expecting them to be delicate and papery, I was surprised by how well they stood up to their filling and coating. I shredded some mozzarella, bought from the old woman who sells it in Williamsburg (if you haven't eaten the stuff, you must -- her storefront is on Metropolitan just east of Lorimer), with my fingers and mixed it with almost equal parts torn basil and some pepper.

After picking the stamens and a lone dead bee from the washed flowers, I spooned the cheese mixture inside, twisted the petals together and toothpicked it all shut. I dipped them in egg and then in cornmeal -- which I highly recommend in place of flour if you make them again -- and baked them at 350 on a buttered cookie sheet, for fear of destroying them should I have to handle them in a pan of hot oil. I turned them in the oven after fifteen minutes or so, and they came out beautifully. Everyone loved them and eyed the empty cookie sheet wistfully when done.

As for the flowers that had ripped too much to stuff, I threw them in pieces into a simple risotto I was making using dried porcini mushrooms and lemon zest.

In any case, thanks for the recipe -- I may yet try the fried method sometime soon when feeling brave. (I just recently discovered your blog, by the way, which I'm loving. I've bookmarked some of your archived versions of recipes.)

[Jessica]

What a bummer that the recipe flopped. Too bad saved reciped dont get better with age like a fine wine.
Thanks for the post though. Good to know that other accomplished cooks have flops too!
Best,
Jessica
www.justchowbella.com

[The Blushing Hostess]

Love it. And thank you as we have blossoms but the squash bores destroy the plants before they yield anything. Now, I will be brave enough to try the fried blossom!

[Deb]

One of the tastes of summer missed by the family since the death of my Italian mother-in-law, is her deep-fried zucchini blossoms. On a Saturday morning, the phone would ring letting us know what time we should arrive to eat these just-cooked delicacies. (She'd usually also made ricotta or rice fritters.) Alas, I never got her recipe but thanks to these very clear instructions I will be able to take my family for a walk down taste-memory lane.

[Figtreeapps]

I have been saving a certain 2 recipes for years, now you got me thinking that I shoud just chuck em out!!! Sorry the meal was so average.. Figtreeapps

[D. at Outside Oslo]

Zucchini blossoms are, well, wonderful! I just wish they weren't so hard to find, at least where I am. I had the most spectacular zucchini blossom and anchovy pizza in Rome four years ago, and I FINALLY got around to tracking the flowers down and making the pizza this summer. Delicious. It's a labor of love, visiting the farmers' market on a weekly basis, and hoping they haven't sold them all to a restaurant, but it's worth every minute of it!

[annie]

My parents' next door neighbor has scads of zucchini blossoms in her yard, which, according to her, are "too much trouble to cook." Having just eaten a delicious version at a restaurant in Ann Arbor, and having this recipe, I am planning to relieve her of the troublesome blossoms and eat them myself. Thanks!!

[marybeth]

So, I have a super idiotic quesiton. If I plant zucchini and pick the blossoms when they are all nice and pretty - will that prevent me from getting zucchini - because what I am secretly hoping for is that you say YES - I hate to say it here = but I think zucchini is NAAAAAAAAASTEE~ nasty nasty nasty but would be willing to devote some garden space to a plant or two if I could have the blossoms

[tina]

I have never prepared zucchini blossoms and only eaten them once. Which is a horrid shame as brought to light by your great post. I shall have to be more blossomly vigilant!

[Luisa]

Marybeth - you don't like zucchini?!? You need to come to dinner at my house, seriously. I will convert you. (Or else look in my recipe index for Braised Zucchini and go to the farmer's market and buy only zucchini that are super super super firm, no bendy middles or soft ends, and make that recipe. Then report back. Please?) I actually don't know the answer to your question, as I'm not a botanist or a gardener, but I think the zucchini grow no matter what.

[Luigi]

Wow the zucchini flower fritters look lovely, a nice perk if you are growing zucchini yourself.

[CattyinQueens]

Did you know we're going to have a visit from Greenmarket next weekend in Forest Hills? I think it will be at MacDonald Park, but the location hasn't been announced yet. I'm super excited.

I loved the Gourmet piece, but now I'm totally curious about the $1 chicken! Where's that?!? I'm sure the Dumplings are good in the city, but since you're in Queens, you should try the ones in the ground-level floor/entrance of the Golden Mall in Flushing, if you haven't already! They are transcendent!

[Luisa]

Catty - I didn't know! Let me know if/when you find out more. That is exciting. The $1 chicken is at a pizza place called Two Brothers (I think?) on 6th Avenue between 17th and 18th Street. And oooh, I know all about the dumplings at Golden Mall (and the noodles! And the soup! Sigh.).

[Shmii]

These are realllly good with goats cheese and red chilli flakes

[Ian]

Wow - that food looks really nice!!

Ian

[Ana Sofia]

I thought these were long gone but saw a few more boxes at the farmer's market last week. If they're still there I will definitely try this!

[Cathy]

Sadly, zucchini blossoms -- organic or not -- are not something I'm ever likely to find where I live. No matter. Your post was so vivid, I could just taste them. Know what you mean about the red lentils. I bought a a bag at the Mediterranean Market on my last trip to Alexandria, Va. (because of the color) and was so disappointed in how they cooked up. I did find a use for the ones left in the bag. I used them in the bottom of my clear votive holders to anchor the candles. The lentils look much prettier on the dinner table raw than cooked.

[Unplanned Cooking]

I'm impressed you saved a recipe for nine years! I've never tried zucchini blossoms. Thanks for the recipe.

[Kelsey/TheNaptimeChef]

This is so helpful, I've always wondered how to do this!

[carol morris]

Just a thought regarding the use of yogurt, I have made a thing where you make a stuffing (bread, vegetables, whatever), put it in the bottom of a baking pan, lay salted and peppered fish over it, and then thickly coat the fish with a layer of yogurt (maybe a half inch think or a little less?). Add a sprinkling of parmesan over the top. If you make the stuffing with some crunch, it is especially good. In this case, the yogurt seems to keep the fish moist. Could have been the thought with that recipe. And thought it's now too late (frost!), I am now inspired to use all my squash blossoms as shown here - never had the nerve before.

[carol morris]

Ooops - and then you bake it, of course!