Stuffed zucchini flowers with tomato petals

This elegant little starter is a lighter way to use the delicate velvety flowers of the zucchini. This zucchini flower recipe is inspired by a Roman dish where zucchini blossoms are stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies and then deep-fried. There are so many variations of stuffed zucchini flowers across Italy but I try not to deep fry too often so I wanted to make a lighter version using ricotta and baked in the oven.

I have always loved zucchini blossoms. I used to pinch them from my father’s courgette beds where he insisted that they could only be removed intact with the vegetable when there were fully grown marrow-like. I like my zucchini (or courgettes as we call them UK/Ireland/France) small and tender and so I get to use them with their blossoms intact. Zucchini flowers are delicate so the key to this courgette flower recipe is using the freshest flowers and treating them gently.

Stuffed Zucchini flowers with tomato petals

Serves 2 starter

Ingredients

• 6 small zucchini (courgettes) with flowers intact

• 100g ricotta

• 1 tablespoon of anchovy paste or 3 anchovies ground up to a paste

• 1 tablespoon of pine nuts, chopped

• Zest of a lemon

• Sprig of parsley

• 2 tomatoes

• Olive oil

• Salt and Pepper

Vegetarian version:

• replace anchovy paste with 2 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan cheese

Method

• First, prepare the tomato petals. Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 350F. Score the base of each tomato. Plunge in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to blanch. Remove with tongs and the skin should easily peel away. Then quarter and remove the seeds and inside. You should be left with 8 petal shapes. Lay spaced out a tray lined with baking paper., anoint with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 20 mins.

• Meanwhile make the mix the ricotta, anchovy paste, lemon zest, chopped pine nuts, and parsley in a bowl. Combine and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the piping bag. I tend to use the disposable ones where you just snip the hole to the size you require. But if you have a proper piping bag with nozzles then choose a smaller one.

• Gently open each flower, and carefully remove the stamen. If particularly tricky then I suggest using tweezers. Pipe the mixture into the petals and then carefully close up laying on a tray lined with baking paper. Place in the oven and cook for 6-8 minutes.

• If your courgettes are on the larger side then you may want to consider scoring them from the base so that they cook quicker - or if they are really large then I would say remove the flowers and cook the marrows separately. You will sacrifice beauty but a large courgette will not cook in 6 minutes.

• Carefully remove the courgettes and transfer to a plate surrounded by the tomatoes to your liking. Serve immediately.

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