The Everyman and I had company over for dinner on the weekend, which necessitated an early morning jaunt to the farmer’s market to procure the appropriate supplies.
Whilst there, I came across some dainty squash blossoms at my regular heirloom tomato stand and though I knew they’d be too “out there” for our guests, I couldn’t resist picking up a clamshell for myself, anyway.
I’ve eaten the blossoms in restaurants before, but never bothered to prepare them at home. After staring at them in the fridge for a few days, I settled on what I considered would be a complimentary, yet homey stuffing. A lot of people will tell you that squash blossoms should be stuffed with cheese, or dipped in batter and deep fried, but I say no. Instead, I modified a stuffing recipe that I often use for peppers, to produce these tiny morsels of delectability.
First, you have to split open the flowers so that you have room to fit the stuffing inside.
Next, prepare a couple of bell peppers (chocolate and vanilla) for the stuffing overrun (I knew I should have bought 2 clamshells); pictured here with the secret umami-ful ingredient.
Then, the filling is stewed together in a saucepan until thickened and delicious. Lastly, it’s stuffed into the pepper shells and blossom petals, and baked until warmed through and toasty. Delish!
Foodie’s Squash Blossoms
2 bell peppers, halved (or another clamshell of squash blossoms)
1 clamshell of squash blossoms, gently rinsed
0.5 lbs ground beef
0.5 c. crushed tomatoes
0.25 c. bulgur
1 tbsp marash pepper, rehydrated
0.5 tbsp parsley
1 tsp porcini salt
parmagiano reggiano
In a medium saucepan, brown the ground beef until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and break up with the back of a wooden spoon. Place the bulgur in a small bowl and add an equal amount of scalding tap water and the marash pepper, then cover with a towel, allowing to steep for 10 minutes. Once the water has absorbed, add the bulgur mixture to the saucepan, stirring to combine. Add the parsley, porcini salt and freshly grated parmagiano reggiano to taste, allowing to simmer for a minute to melt the cheese. Preheat the oven to 350*. While heating, stuff the blossoms with the ground beef and bulgur, and place in an oven-safe baking dish. Stuff bell pepper halves with the remains of the filling (if you only have 1 clamshell of blossoms), then bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Until next time…
Tags: beef, bell peppers, blossoms, Cooking, parmagiano reggiano, Recipes, squash, tomatoes
