Stuffed Zucchini Flowers- Deep Fried–Fiori di Zucchine

Welcome to Nonna’s Way test kitchen! Today, Angela and I decided we would prepare deep fried stuffed zucchini flowers ourselves instead of taking the easy road out and letting one of our feature nonnas do all the work! Armed with a recipe (thanks nonna Anna!) and fresh flowers we had lots of fun and certainly learned a few things. The zucchini flower is such a delicate beauty and they are in abundance in the garden right now.

First thing in the morning, which is the best time to pick the zucchini flowers, I went over to dad’s and asked him to pick me some. You want flowers that are opened and not attached to a growing zucchini. However, I did convince Nonno Giovanni to let us have one each of the green and yellow baby zucchini with a flower on them because they were so cute!  He wasn’t keen on parting with them but he did anyway to make us happy. Check out the awesome picture Angela took!

We got the recipe from Nonna Anna and she explained how she prepares them. Wash the flowers and let dry completely or just use a soft brush or dish towel to remove debris if fairly clean. Gently remove stamen and outer petals (see photo below) without breaking the flower. Mix the batter, heat your oil, stuff your flowers, a little fry and voila!

Mastering the batter dipping without losing the stuffing contents was a little tricky, but the more we made the better we got at it.

We even got adventurous with the last flower and came up with a different filling and it was delicious!

These photos are proof of the “hands on” work we did. As you can see, we did not follow the script exactly as written! Not the neatest preparation but the end result was delicious.

We hope you enjoy this recipe. They are delicious and hard to eat just one. They’re only around for a limited time so get some and try out this recipe! Let us know what you think.

Zucchini Flowers Deep Fried

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Ingredients

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• fresh picked zucchini flowers
• finely grated mozzarella cheese
• anchovy filets in oil, cut into quarters
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 bottle of beer
• cayenne pepper (optional)
• oil for deep frying

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Instructions

1. Heat the oil to 375F. You want enough oil to completely “float” the frying zucchini flower.
2. Wash the flowers and let dry completely or just use a soft brush or dish towel to remove debris if fairly clean. Carefully remove the inner stamen and outer green petals. See photo in the post.
3. Prepare the batter by adding together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and any spices you may be using. Stir with a fork to mix well then add the beer. Whisk gently to make a batter and set aside while preparing the flowers.
4. Put a teaspoon of mozzarella into each flower.
5. Add a quarter of an anchovy filet.
6. Carefully gather the tops of the flower and twist the ends gently to close in the contents.
7. Carefully coat all sides of the flower with the batter.
8. Gently lower into the hot oil.
9. Cook until golden brown on all sides.
10. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon or tongs allowing any excess oil to drip off.
11. Place on paper towel to absorb any oil.
12. Enjoy them while they are warm and crispy!

Notes

• You can add any spices you like to the batter. We particularly enjoyed the little “zip” from the cayenne.
• They are best eaten right away but if you are preparing ahead, just warm them up in the oven before serving. They will get crispy again.
• A deep fryer works particularly well for this recipe.