Flowers

Frittata di fiori di zucca

I was lucky enough as a young boy to grow up in a neighborhood of Italian families.  I was the only blond haired Swede within two blocks.  I have wonderful memories of my neighborhood.  One thing that I remember most is playing on the porches of my neighbors on Saturdays and smelling "Sunday gravy" spaghetti sauce cooking on the stoves for hours in preparation for Sunday dinner after mass.  There were neighbors that lived on one side of my home, that I was particularly close to.  They had a grandmother, "nonna", that prepared many traditional dishes that she brought with her when they came from Italy to the United States.  I distinctly remember one time when she sent a dinner to my family for a Sunday meal.  It consisted of spaghetti and meatballs with homemade sauce and the most delicious side dish that I ever tasted, which were these batter-dipped zucchini flowers in the shape of a small pancake.  They were fried in olive oil and they were delicious.  Although I have the original family recipe for this, I am using my adaptation from memory of what this tasted like.  This could be used as an appetizer, but most often, when I make it, I use it as a side to either pasta or, in today's presentation, eggplant parmesan.  This is the time of year when zucchini and blossoms are readily available.  Please try this - it is different, it is delicious and I think it will be one of your family favorites.

Note: In this demonstration, I will be showing three different examples of how this recipe can be made.  This can be done using whole blossoms, blossoms cut into strips or grated zucchini with blossoms cut into strips.

Ingredients:

2 c. Bisquick
½ c.  grated Romano cheese
½ t. dried basil
½ t. dried oregano
¼ t. garlic powder
milk (enough to make a thin batter)
6 - 8 zucchini blossoms
1 small zucchini, grated (optional)
olive oil
spaghetti or marinara sauce

 

Remove stem and stamen from each blossom.  Rinse each blossom under running water, to remove any pollen.  Allow to dry on a paper towel.

 

 

In a mixing bowl, add Bisquick, Romano cheese, garlic powder (or one clove of fresh garlic, minced), basil, oregano, enough milk for a thin batter, grated zucchini or flowers (or both).

 

 
Dip the flower(s) or zucchini into the batter.  Fry until golden brown on both sides.  Drain on a paper towel and keep warm in an oven until ready to serve. 

 

 
Continue frying additional flowers/zucchini until golden brown on both sides.

Drizzle with marinara sauce and serve with your favorite meal.  In this demonstration, they were served as a side with eggplant parmesan.