Cookies Preferences
In Beirut I never bought a zucchini flower. They weren't for sale. Instead I watched as when the little koussa (small zucchinis common there) were delivered to the green grocer, one of the assistant's jobs was to remove and discard all of the flowers that were still attached (quelle horror!!!). One day I asked Wissam at my favorite Achrafieh Supermarket, if he'd save the zucchini flowers for me on the side, and this being Lebanon, he happily agreed. The next morning I arrived and a plastic bag full of at least a hundred was waiting for me. I gave him a nice tip and immediately took them to Super Vega where I was still working in the kitchen. Instead of ricotta we used areesha which is a local equivallent and packed it full of lemon zest, fresh zaatar and mint, a pinch of sumac. Once stuffed we used a beer batter before frying them to perfection. Zucchini is such a common ingredient in Lebanese cuisine...it made me happy to be sharing a new part of the vegetable with our customers.
24 zucchini blossoms
2 cups ricotta cheese or areesha
2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint
2 tablespoons fresh chopped zaatar (or oregano)
zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
for the batter:
1 1/2 cups beer
1 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
Oil for frying
First prepare the zucchini blossoms by carefully removing the stamens from inside the flower. Now combine all of the filling ingredients, tasting it to make sure there's enough seasoning for your liking. We used a piping bag to gently fill each zucchini blossom but you can spoon it in, it's just a bit more fiddly. Sort of pinch together the ends of the flower once they're filled and twist a bit to seal.
Make the batter by whisking all of the ingredients together. It should be fluid but with the consistency of heavy cream so that it coats the zucchini blossoms.
Heat your frying oil in a large saucepan until it reaches 325F/164C degrees. Dredge your stuffed zucchini blossoms in the batter and immediately place them in the hot oil. Allow them to cook, turning occasionally so they're evenly browned, about 4 minutes. Remove them to a paper towel to remove excess oil and sprinkle with a little more salt. Serve hot!
