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A
feast of flowers
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| Treat
yourself to a feast of courgette - or zucchini -
flowers. Their delicate taste and elegant appearance
will impress your guests and have them coming back
for more. |
 Courgette
(or zucchini) flowers are a deliciofus, and colourful,
addition to your late spring menu. You can buy flowers
from most well-stocked supermarkets or greengrocers
and farm produce stands. If you have a vegetable
patch they're well worth growing. Choose the freshest
and firmest flowers available and try to buy on
the day you plan to cook them as they are highly
perishable. Before cooking you'll need to wash them
gently and remove the inner pistil (stamen) then
pat them dry with kitchen paper. Here are three
delicious recipes, each one to feed four.
Fried Tuscan-style
Ingredients:
16 courgette flowers
3 eggs
100 g flour
oil for frying
salt and pepper
Choose large, firm, fresh flowers. Open them gently
and remove the pistils. Wash the flowers and pat
them dry. Beat the eggs and season. Heat the oil.
Dredge the flowers with flour, then dip in the egg
mixture. Fry until golden, drain on kitchen paper
and serve hot.
Stuffed Ligurian-style
Ingredients:
16 courgette flowers
3 potatoes
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
4 spoons of parmesan cheese
2 spoons of freshly chopped mint
Preheat the oven to 180¡C. Boil the potatoes
in salted water, peel them and mash in a potato
ricer. Add the egg, egg yolk, cheese, mint and seasoning.
Wash the courgette flowers, pat dry and place on
an oiled and lined oven dish. Stuff the flowers
with filling and cook in a preheated oven for 10-15
minutes. Serve piping hot.
Stuffed Roman-style
Ingredients:
16 courgette flowers
150 g pecorino romano cheese
8 anchovy fillets
2 eggs
100 g breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
oil for frying
Gently wash and dry the flowers. Finely dice the
cheese and cut the anchovy fillets in two. Open
the flowers carefully and put the anchovy halves
and some cheese into each one. Beat the eggs and
season. Dip the flowers in the egg batter and then
in the breadcrumbs. Heat the oil and fry the flowers
until golden. Dry on kitchen paper and serve hot.
Serve your courgette flowers with a bottle of Roero
Arneis, a refreshing dry white wine or, a medium
bodied red such as Grignolino
d'Asti.
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| by
MARIA
LINARDI |
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May
22nd, 2002
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
