On growing zucchini and eating zucchini blossoms: a zucchini blossom frittata & zucchini blossom fritters

Our little 'garden' (alias numerous terracota pots just outside the back door) is doing well. We've picked our first strawberries, are keeping an eye on the growing tomatoes, and hope to harvest some baby beetroots soon. But most successful has been the zucchini container (or 'courgette container', as it would be known in the UK). I've got three yellow zucchini plants in one large container, and they obviously seem to thrive there. I've already harvested one good-sized zucchini (click here or see the photo on the right), and we've been eating quite a lot of zucchini blossoms. Whereas I've always known that young zucchinis are wonderful, then zucchini blossoms have been a new discovery for me. And what a delightful discovery they've been - they've got a delicate zucchini flavour, beautiful shape and unusual texture. We've only harvested male blossoms, as we want to harvest as many zucchinis as possible from our 'garden'.

Kalyn recently praised zucchini blossoms in her BlogHer post. Here's what I've been doing with them, over and over again.. (And if you've got a favourite way with zucchini blossoms, then please let me know. There are loads and loads of blossoms still to harvest!)

Zucchini Blossom Fritters
(Frititud suvikõrvitsaõied)



I made sure that all my zucchini blossoms were clean and dry, then dipped them into a batter made of approximately 1 part plain flour and 1 part water (aiming for the consistency of not-too-thick sour cream). After dipping them in batter, I deep-fried the zucchini blossoms in olive oil that I had heated in a small sauce-pan (about 1 inch/2-3 cm of oil), turning them once. Once the zucchini blossoms were golden brown, I drained them on kitchen paper, sprinkled with some Maldon sea salt flakes, and enjoyed them straight away.

Zucchini Blossom Frittata



Again, make sure your zucchini blossoms are clean.
Whisk some eggs (say, 2 per person) in a small bowl, add a dash of water, whisk again and season with salt and pepper.
Heat some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat, add zucchini blossoms and fry gently for about 30 seconds. Pour over the egg mixture, reduce heat to low, and let it set for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir couple of times, sprinkle some chopped green onions and spring onions/scallions on top, top with a spoonful or two of grated soft cheese (mozzarella, feta, soft goat cheese or Cheddar - all would work).
Cover the frying pan with a lid and let the frittata set over a low heat. Alternatively, give it a few minutes under a hot grill.
Garnish with fresh herbs and serve with home-made rye bread. Oh, and the frittata gets its gorgeous yellow shade from using eggs from these very happy chicken. But usual free-range supermarket eggs will do as well :)

WHB: This is also my entry to the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Susan of Food Blogga. You can read Susan's roundup here.

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