Stuffed deep-fried courgette flowers

Right now I'm in Tuscany (Montecatini) for the second culinary holiday of this season.
The markets and supermarkets here are FULL of beautiful courgette flowers, often still attached to lovely light green courgettes, so I thought I'd use these little nature's wonders for tonight's lesson.

It's not a classic recipe but something I thought would be nice (I admit, I used my students as guinea pigs since I had never made this stuffing before...): a mixture of ricotta cheese, fresh and strong-tasting mint (we got ours directly from the garden), Parmesan and pecorino cheese plus a lot of black pepper.
The result was absolutely exceptional.

To make the flowers nice and crunchy chill the batter with some ice cubes. It works fabulously.

Fiori di zucchina ripieni fritti

Serves 10-12 

Ingredients:
10-12 courgette flowers
2 egg yolks
250 gr ricotta
50 gr. grated parmesan cheese
30 gr. grated pecorino (sheep) cheese
a bunch of fresh mint leaves
200 gr. flour
2 dl. ice-cold beer or ice-cold fizzy mineral water
4 egg whites
salt and pepper
sunflower oil for frying

Rinse the flowers quickly under the tap and dry them with kitchen paper.
Gently remove the fleshy pistils from inside the flowers.

Mix the ricotta with the egg yolks, the finely chopped mint leaves, the parmesan and pecorino cheese and a generous pinch of ground pepper. Salt is usually not necessary since the pecorino is quite salty but taste the stuffing just to make sure.

Fill the courgette flowers with some ricotta mixture. Fill them up to just below the opening of their petals.

To prepare the batter, sieve the flour in a big bowl. Add some salt and pepper.

Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff (use the electric mixer).

Gently mix the beer (or fizzy mineral water) with the flour using a whisk and make sure there are no lumps in the batter. Add the egg whites to the batter and mix carefully.

Dip the flowers in the batter- chilled with a few ice cubes - and fry them in hot sunflower oil until golden brown. Don’t put too many flowers in the frying pan otherwise the temperature will drop and the flowers will absorb too much oil.

Lay the flowers on kitchen paper to remove the excess fat and serve immediately.

Preparing the stuffing

Stuffing the flowers

Ready to be deep-fried!

Chilling the batter with ice cubes

Frying the flowers

Comments

[maryann]

Lucky, lucky you!! ;)

[Nicoletta]

Ciao Maryann! I can't deny I am lucky and pretty much feel so. :) Being here is such a fantastic experience every time. I just LOVE Tuscany and being here with my friends Cristina and Michael!

[Marie]

You do what people dream of!

[Nicoletta]

Wow Marie, your comment gave me goose bumps. I guess it's true... It made me realize once again how privileged I am to earn my living doing this, and to do it in such a beautiful place. Thanks for reminding me and a big kiss!

[Veronica]

I wish I could get my hand on some courgette flowers. I will be set forever.

[Nicoletta]

Veronica, sorry for my belated answer. Can't you get any courgette flowers where you are? Or maybe grow your own? Too bad I can't send any too you, they're too delicate to travel... Ciao!