Squash Blossoms Stuffed with Smoked Goat Cheese
Fresh from the garden and quick to the plate. This is an easy, ad-hoc appetizer for any night of the week, or even every night of the summer while your garden is feeling generous. Since you might have only 4 blossoms to work with or you might have as many as 12 or 16, I will give a rule of thumb on the ingredient quantity, but feel free to scale up or down as needed. Left-over batter and stuffing can be stored, covered in the refrigerator for several days.
Ingredients
Freshly picked squash blossoms
Smoked goat cheese (soft); assume approximately 1 oz., per 4-6 blossoms (depending on size of blossom)
Grated parmesan cheese (just a sprinkle, or up to a few TBSP if making 12-24)
Egg yolk (1 yolk for 6 oz. goat cheese, or just a portion of the yolk if doing a small quantity)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Sprinkle of smoked paprika (more if using non-smoked goat cheese)
Cooked beets (particularly yellow), skin removed and sliced thin
Arugula, lemon juice, salt and pepper
Green Sauce (enough to dollop each plate)
FOR THE BATTER
Flour (1/2 cup or so)
Salt and pepper
Sprinkle of parmesan
Enough soda water to resemble pancake batter
FOR SAUCE
3 Gigante beans (in vinaigrette) from the olive bar (I said it was ad-hoc but you could use a little tahini or another handful of white beans from a can)
1/8 cup fresh basil leaves
3 green Castelvetrano olives
1 TB lemon juice
3 TB olive oil
3 TB water
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Check each blossom for bugs and gently part the outer pedals to create a cup for the filling.
- In a small bowl, mix the goat cheese, parmesan, egg yolk, pepper and paprika.
- Gently fill each blossom, leaving the tips empty enough to twist closed.
- Twist the tips closed and set aside.
- Meanwhile, make the batter by mixing all the ingredients together.
- Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a sauté pan and heat until hot but not smoking.
- Dip each blossom into the batter while holding the tips and drop them one-by-one into the heated oil.
- Let the one side crisp to a golden brown (1-2 minutes) then, using tongs, flip them over to heat through (30-60 seconds more).
- Put sliced beets onto a plate.
- Toss arugula with sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice and put a mound over each plate of beets.
- Top with the cooked blossoms and spoon a bit of the green sauce around the plate.
GREEN SAUCE
Simply put all ingredients into a blender/Vitamix or food processor until smooth.
BATTER
Mix all ingredients together.