There are two types of zucchini flowers: male and female. They are easily differentiated since the females are the ones on which the courgettes grow, while the males have a single stem. Another peculiarity, this flower opens early in the morning and closes again as soon as the heat becomes too strong, from 9:30 am in summer.
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In the market, choose them open if possible and especially very yellow. Once the flower is in your hands, do not wait to consume it as it is a very fragile flower. It is usually cooked in a donut, but on Monday our food journalist Marion Sauveur offers to prepare it stuffed.
Ingredients :
4 zucchini flowers
2 courgettes
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 onion
1 tomato
Cream cheese
Fresh basilic
Fresh thyme
Pepper
Salt
The steps of the recipe:
1. Pass the flower under a stream of water
2. Open the petals without damaging them and remove the pistil in the middle of the female flower and the stamens of the male flower.
3. Brown the flowers in a pan
4. Add olive oil and chopped onions
5. Add the diced zucchini and tomato
6. Leave on the heat for two to three minutes so that the vegetables are crunchy.
7. Add thyme and fresh basil and remove from the heat.
8. Stuff the flowers with the pan-fried vegetables and the cream cheese.
9. Drizzle with olive oil
10. Bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees
If you don't want to cook ...
You can taste zucchini flowers at the restaurant Le Lapin Blanc in Avignon. Chef Amélie Nogier cooks with local products and makes zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh Ventoux goat cheese, with pesto and parmesan. They are served with elongated cherry tomatoes and seared fiddle zucchini.
Chef Amélie Nogier's recipe:
For the pesto:
1 very ripe tomato
1 bunch of basil
4 cloves of garlic
A little olive oil
For the stuffing:
1 fresh goat cheese from Ventoux
A little grated Parmesan
1 egg yolk
A spoon of pesto
Pepper
Preparation of the zucchini flower:
Steam the stuffed flower for 2 minutes
Pan-fry with the fresh cherry tomatoes, pesto and fiddle courgettes
Dress with a little Parmesan shavings and pesto