No-Cook Squash Blossoms

July  9, 2012

The first time I ate squash blossoms was at my first-ever restaurant job, an organic farm-to-table type place who grew most of its produce on a one-acre plot right outside its dining room. The first time I ever cooked squash blossoms was at the same restaurant.

They let me in the kitchen for a stretch, and though the reason why they trusted me with their food is still unclear, come summer, I was the girl in charge of the dainty blossoms. I’d go get them from the garden, much to the chagrin of the rabid horse flies that took up residence in the field, and then when back in the safety of the kitchen, I’d wash, trim, and stuff with the herbed ricotta I’d just made.

These little guys were destined for a quick bath in the fryer -- which was insanely delicious -- but there are other ways to prepare them which highlight their light, vegetal flavors without masking them in batter. Melissa Clark gives us one such way.

It’s a no-cook method (a bonus if you, like me, survive in this heat with cold packs and one rickety, four-bladed fan), where the flowers are slicked with olive oil and made rich from burrata. Keep your eyes peeled for the blossoms at your next farmer’s market. Then buy them, and make this straight away.

Zucchini’s Flower Power from The New York Times

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Kenzi Wilbur

Written by: Kenzi Wilbur

I have a thing for most foods topped with a fried egg, a strange disdain for overly soupy tomato sauce, and I can never make it home without ripping off the end of a newly-bought baguette. I like spoons very much.

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