Erica De Mane

Italian spoon rest with zucchini and blossom.

Recipes below: Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Mozzarella, Anchovy, and Marjoram; Penne with Zucchini, Butter, and Thyme

It took me a while to get around to eating flowers. They seemed so tissue-delicate, like eating my own skin. When I was a kid, even ripping a flower petal gave me the shivers. But now that I’m a grownup professional cook who plunges knives into live lobsters and skins half-dead eels, the flower issue seems silly. I’ve gotten over it. I scatter nasturtium flowers and leaves into salads. I pull blue borage flowers off the plant and eat them raw. And when I see big yellow zucchini blossoms in my market, and I’m finding them right now, I buy them and fry them, crunchy and substantial. In my opinion, they are the best antipasto of the summer.

At this moment of the year, I like serving a zucchini-themed dinner. Having those really small zucchini in my hands, any variety, striped and fuzzy, or dark green, or yellow verging on orange, along with the big, pointy flowers, gives me a great feeling of seasonal newness and anticipation of a beautiful meal.

Here’s the menu I served the other night. As much as I love zucchini, it’s not the most fragrant vegetable, so I rely on my Southern Italian grab bag of flavors to boost it up—anchovies for sure, good salt, and lots of fresh herbs like marjoram, thyme, and parsley.

Got any interesting zucchini recipes? I’d love to hear about them.

Zucchini and Lemons, by Amy Weiskopf.

Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Mozzarella, Anchovy, and Marjoram

(Serves 4)

12 good-looking fresh zucchini blossoms
½ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup beer (I used Stella)
Salt
A big pinch of sugar
½ cup grated grana Padano cheese
A small ball of mozzarella, cut into approximately 1-inch-long and ½-inch-thick batons (they just have to fit inside the blossoms)
12 oil-packed anchovies
6 marjoram sprigs, chopped, plus some for garnish
Extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt such as Maldon or fleur de sel

Trim the stems off the flowers or leave them on. It’s up to you. I usually cut them at the base of the flower, but some people like to use them as a sort of handle. Next, carefully open up the petals, and remove the fuzzy stamens. And while you’re at it, check for bugs.

With a whisk, mix the flour with the beer, adding salt and a big pinch of sugar. The texture should be like a thick cream, clingy but drippy. Add more beer or more flour to get to that place.

Sprinkle a little grana Padano inside each blossom. Then place a mozzarella baton and an anchovy in each. Sprinkle on a little chopped marjoram. Twist the tops gently to close the flowers up.

Pull out a wide skillet and get it hot over high heat. Add a half inch of olive oil, and let it heat through.

Dip the stuffed blossoms in the batter, letting excess drip off.

When the oil is very hot, add the blossoms, and let them brown on one side without moving them around. Then turn them with tongs, and let the other side get crisp and golden.

Pull them from the oil, and place them on a large serving plate. Sprinkle them with a little coarse salt and marjoram. Serve right away.

Penne with Zucchini, Butter, and Thyme

(Serves 4 or 5)

Salt
1 pound penne
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
7 or 8 really small summer zucchini, green or yellow, cut into thin rounds
3 scallions, cut into thin rounds, using all the tender green, too
2 summer garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Black pepper
A big pinch of quatre épices
8 big thyme sprigs, the leaves chopped, plus thyme blossoms if you have them
A splash of dry Marsala
½ cup chicken broth, possibly a little more
The grated zest from 1 lemon
A palmful of toasted pine nuts
A small handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, lightly chopped
A chunk of grana Padano cheese

Set up a pot of pasta cooking water, add a generous amount of salt, and bring it to a boil. Drop in the penne.

Get out a large skillet, and set it over medium-high heat. Add half of the butter, and let it get hot. Add the zucchini and the scallions, and sauté until everything is tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and season with salt, black pepper, and the quatre épices. Add the thyme, and sauté a minute longer, to release all these flavors. Add a splash of dry Marsala, and let it bubble for a few seconds.

Add the chicken broth, the rest of the butter, and let simmer for about a minute.

When the penne is al dente, drain it, and pour it into a warmed serving bowl. Pour on the zucchini sauce, and add the pine nuts and lemon zest. Toss, adding about a tablespoon of grated grana Padano. Add a little more of the chicken broth, if needed, to loosen the sauce. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt or fresh black pepper if you like. Serve hot or warm, bringing extra cheese to the table.