You may find it strange or repulsive but in Italy this is a delicate ingredient cooked in various ways! I am referring to the Fiori di zucchine (the flowers of the zucchini or marrows).
It is not as easy as in Italy to find these flowers in Malta since they are not really appreciated and used in our cooking. Yet, they are available – attached to the so popular marrows we find all year round at our fruit & vegetable vendors. So if you are interested in procuring some and follow this recipe find someone who grows marrows and ask them to keep the flowers for you. Make sure they are fresh since they have a very short life span – only 1 or 2 days.
Courgette flowers filled with ricotta
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 16 flowers
- 250gr ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 1tblsp parmesan
- 1 tblsp breadcrumbs
- salt & pepper
Process:
- Clean the flowers very carefully and remove the pistils.
- Wash them briefly and pat them with paper towels.
- Prepare the mixture of ricotta, eggs, parmesan, salt & pepper.
- Fill the flowers with the mixture; place them in an oven dish, scatter breadcrumbs on top, add some salt and olive oil.
- Cook in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees Celsius for 7 minutes.
