Fried Squash Blossoms with Ricotta and Herbs

I woke up the other morning and looked out the window to find the first SQUASH BLOSSOMS of the year!! These big orange beauties may seem like just an ornamental part of a zucchini plant, but in reality, they are edible. Let’s go over our checklist:

Can you fry them? Check.
Stuff them with cheese? Check?
Easy to make? Ready in minutes? Delicious? Check, check, check.

Here is one of my favorite recipes (below.) If you don’t have a garden or don’t grow zucchini, no worries – you can usually find these this time of year at your local farmer’s market.

Ingredients

For the cheese stuffing:

8-12 squash blossoms (zucchini are best)
1 cup ricotta cheese, or goat cheese
4 tbsp fresh herb (I used sage, oregano, basil, and onion chives)
s & p to taste

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs (regular or panko)
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions 

First, have your egg in one bowl, your breadcrumbs in another, and your cheese mixture in a third bowl.  (The setup of this is similar to frying chicken cutlets – your process will be: dip in egg, roll in breadcrumbs, then fry, and repeat.)

For the squash blossoms: very gently, rinse them off, and carefully pull out the pistils in the center. You don’t want to tear the leaves. While they dry…

Mix the ricotta cheese with the herbs and salt and pepper. Spoon the cheese mixture into each blossom, about 3/4 tbsp each.

After stuffing with cheese, gently twist the petals around to close the blossoms.

Next, get ready to fry. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Then dip each blossom first in the egg, (coating the entire blossom), then dredge it into the breadcrumbs, and finally place in the skillet. Fry until golden brown – about 2 minutes – then turn over and fry on the other side. Repeat this process until all blossoms are fried.

Lightly sprinkle with some cayenne pepper (optional) and serve warm. Enjoy!!