Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Ricotta and Olives, or Fiori di Zucca Ripieni con Ricotta e Olive: The delicate flavor of zucchini blossoms makes them an excellent container for other ingredients, in this case olives and ricotta. The recipe will serve 4.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 12 zucchini blossoms, stemmed, pistils removed, gently washed and patted dry
- 8 ounces (200 g) fresh ricotta
- 4 tablespoons green olive paste
- A few leek leaves
- An egg white
- White wine vinegar
- 12 green olives, pitted and diced
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A steamer
Preparation:
Trim the leek leaves so as to obtain twelve ribbons and blanch them in lightly salted water.Mix the olive paste with the ricotta, and season it to taste with salt and pepper.
Rub the flower petals with egg white to help them stick to each other, and fill the flowers with the ricotta mixture (you may find it easier to do this if you gather the filling into a pastry bag with a wide nozzle, and squeeze it into the flowers). Tie the flowers shut with the leek ribbons, and steam them for 5 minutes.
While they're steaming pit and dice the olives. Whisk 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a half tablespoon of vinegar, seasoning the resulting emulsion with salt and pepper to taste, and mix in the diced olives. Spoon the sauce over the steamed zucchini flowers and serve.
