Crisp Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed With Goat Cheese

Name: Crisp Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed With Goat Cheese
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 appetizer servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon ground sumac; Boiling water; 1/4 cup/50 grams ricotta; 3 tablespoons/50 grams soft goat cheese; 1 teaspoon finely chopped oregano leaves; 2 tablespoons/10 grams chopped walnuts; 1 lemon, finely grated to get 1 tablespoon zest, then cut into wedges; Flaky sea salt and black pepper; 8 zucchini blossoms; About 1 1/2 cups/350 milliliters sunflower oil, for frying; Scant 1/2 cup/60 grams all-purpose flour (plain flour); 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda); 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon/100 milliliters ice-cold sparkling or soda water

By Yotam Ottolenghi

Total Time: 35 minutes
Rating: 5(327)
Comments: Read comments

Zucchini blossoms are a thing of wonder. They are great raw, in a salad, with a drizzle of good olive oil, but when they are coated in a crisp batter and stuffed with a light filling, they are an otherworldly experience. To get a good batter that isn’t too thick or oily, ensure that your sparkling or soda water is very well carbonated and ice cold. Also take your time with the oil, testing it a few times to get the perfect temperature. Adjust the temperature as you go, making sure the flowers don’t color too quickly.

Featured in: Let This Glorious Ingredient Simply Shine

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:4 appetizer servings

1tablespoon ground sumac
Boiling water
¼cup/50 grams ricotta
3tablespoons/50 grams soft goat cheese
1teaspoon finely chopped oregano leaves
2tablespoons/10 grams chopped walnuts
1lemon, finely grated to get 1 tablespoon zest, then cut into wedges
Flaky sea salt and black pepper
8zucchini blossoms
About 1½ cups/350 milliliters sunflower oil, for frying
Scant ½ cup/60 grams all-purpose flour (plain flour)
⅛teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
⅓cup plus 1 tablespoon/100 milliliters ice-cold sparkling or soda water

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

Step 1
In a medium bowl, cover ¾ tablespoon of the sumac with 1 tablespoon of boiling water and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Add both types of cheese, oregano, walnuts, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon salt and a generous grind of pepper. Mix well.
Step 2
Fill the flowers by carefully opening them and either spooning or piping about a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture into each, gently pushing the filling all the way to the bottom of each blossom but being careful not to fill them too much; if you can get someone to hold the flower open for you, it would make it much easier. Gently twist the tips of the petals to secure the filling inside and set aside until you’re ready to fry.
Step 3
Pour enough oil into a medium (about 8-inch/20-centimeter) nonstick frying pan so that the oil rises about 1 inch/2 centimeters up the sides of the pan. Place on a high heat for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down a fraction.
Step 4
Meanwhile, mix the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the sparkling water, whisking continuously to form a smooth batter.
Step 5
When bubbles start to surface in the oil, test it by dropping some batter into the oil: if it sizzles, you are ready. (The oil should hover between 320 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit/160 and 180 degrees Celsius.)
Step 6
Lower a zucchini blossom into the batter, turning to coat completely, before carefully placing in the hot oil. Repeat, cooking a few blossoms at a time, adjusting the temperature between batches so they take about 30 seconds on each side to turn a golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and then sprinkle with salt and the remaining ¼ tablespoon sumac. Serve at once with the lemon wedges alongside.

Ratings

5 out of 5

327 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

ROK6 years ago

Thank goodness for the Hmong farmers in Minnesota who also love squash blossoms and are thrilled to see others buy them at the farmers market. Placing the fried blooms on a rack over a baking sheet in the oven is key for keeping them crispy and delicious. And making only 8 wold cause a mutiny in my house

MJane6 years ago

I like Ottolenghi’s note that his Dad always cooked them by doing very little : lightly dipped in beaten egg and Parmesan and then shallow fried in olive oil. Delicious Golden with a crunch. Minimalist Dad vs. Maximalist son!

katie6 years ago

My husband cooked these. Wonderful! The coating was thin and crisp, allowing the delicate flowers to shine. He would like to try the coating with fried fish too. Next time we will stuff the blossoms in the morning, after we pick them from our garden. We learned the hard way that they eventually close up in the afternoon, making it harder to stuff them. It helped that we used the plastic bag with a cut corner method for stuffing. Will definitely make these again.

KRD3 weeks ago

FANTASTIC recipe - will no doubt become one of our summer staples. Definitely increase water to flour ratio and decrease amount of sumac. It helps to use a medium to sharp goat cheese to offset the very mild flavor of the ricotta.

CDB8 months ago

Delicious- came out perfectly! Subbed pine nuts for walnuts and basil for oregano-but plan on at least double the cooking time unless you have a sous chef!

Judykatherine8 months ago

All squash blossoms are delicious…Hubbards are really large and make beautiful stuffed treats. I strongly recommend picking out the stamens from the blossoms before stuffing: they are quite bitter and can ruin the whole thing. Hemostatic forceps work great for this.

Private comments are only visible to you.