Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms

Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms

My neighbor Eddie and I were checking out my garden and we decided it would be fun to use our pumpkin flowers to create a stuffed blossom appetizer.  Neither one of us had ever done this before, so we googled squash blossom recipes and created our own version.  You can use any kind of squash blossom for this recipe.

I picked the blossoms in the early morning when they were still open so it would be easier to remove the stamen.   You simply reach in deep and twist and pull the stamen out of the flower.  If your blossoms are closed - you can make a slit in the side of the closed flower and pull it out from the side. 

We did our prep...  A bowl of feta, a bowl of goat cheese, a bowl of ricotta, a dipping container  with a beaten egg and another with flour and prep bowls with lemon zest, thyme, chopped roasted red pepper and a beaten egg for binding the cheeses.  We mixed the cheese, egg, lemon zest, red pepper and thyme with a little salt to taste - some with the feta and some with the goat cheese.  A heated saute pan was ready for the olive oil - about 1/4 cup.  When it rippled - we started frying.  I left the stems on to make it easier and man was that a good choice.  Once they were golden brown on all sides, we drained them on paper towels, squeezed on some lemon and yum!  They were delicious.  We both agreed that the feta blossoms were the best.  I'd say for the small amount we did - about 12 of them - we only used about 1 cup of the ricotta and about 1/4 cup of the other cheeses and 1 egg.  All the rest of the ingredients - we did 'to taste'.   TASTE - one of my rules for good food - I often will change a recipe in a magazine or cookbook based on Tasting.