Stuffed zucchini flowers tempura with stracciatella cheese and red prawns

It was the first time. Our first guest in the The Eat Culture kitchen. Giulia, my Friend for a lifetime, or perhaps a few more. I adore my friend but the kitchen for her is a bit ‘like Christmas for the Grinch, there is mutual hatred. I love how she look when I cook, a bit ‘as I look at her when she is busy working on Photoshop: as if one in the eyes of the other is doing the same extraordinary magic. Glances full of curiosity and wonder, enchanted eyes of when we were little girls. Like when I taught her to make pizzas with puff pastry.
Giulia definitely worshiped this tempura zucchini flowers, she said she would eat them all the time. I wrote this recipe a little ‘for her, too, for my Friend. Ever that having seen how easy it was to prepare them and how good they are, maybe the desire to try will win. It will ensure that Giulia 1 – 0 Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

Stuffed zucchini flowers:

• 20 zucchini flowers
• 200 gr. of ricotta cheese
• 300 gr. of stracciatella or mozzarella
• 6 red prawns
• extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper q.s.

Tempura:

• 250 gr. of plain flour or rice flour
• 330 ml. of very cold beer
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• oil for frying q.s.

Level of difficulty: It seems a mess, but it isn’t. I promise you!
Matching soundtrack: Vincent by Don McLean

PROCESS

Start from the flowers: gently, highly gently, you have to remove the pistils and the stem. The easiest way to do that is cutting the bottom end of the flower – two birds with one stone: the stem leaves and you can simply extract the pistil from the inside, reducing the risk of breaking the flower. Well, now just wash them in a bowl of cold water, then dry them on paper towels. Set aside.

Now onto the filling. In a bowl start with creaming the ricotta cheese previously drained from his liquid (those who want to do complicated they would say “sift through a strainer”, but this is one of those tasks that really makes me raise my eyes to heaven, so nevermind. Then, I wouldn’t deprive you of the feeling caused by the ricotta cheese under the teeth followed by the spinning of stracciatella.) so, add in the stracciatella. Put to rest a few minutes in the fridge.

Sear the prawns in a wok with a little oil, just half a minute per side and, if you like, flavored with a pinch of paprika.

Remove the peel and cut the prawns flesh into small pieces, so add them to the cream cheese with a little salt if needed. Do not forget to add the divine sauce that remained from cooking prawns to the cream, to the last drop.

We just have to fill zucchini flowers. With a pastry bag stuffed the flowers one by one, do not overdo it with the the filling as it will tend to grow slightly in cooking.

Now prepare the batter: blended slowly the flour with the beer with a whisk (the beer should be really cool, to the limit of the ice – it is essential to induce thermal shock in cooking and subsequent crispness) then salted. Dip one by one flowerson tempura and plunge them in hot oil. Wait just a moment and you’ll see that in no time your flowers begin to brown. Drain them on blotting paper and eat them as soon as they become lukewarm.

Clever tip: the trouble with zucchini blossoms tempura is that if they aren’t eaten immediately become mushy, especially when stuffed. And when it happens it isn’t a good thing. So if by chance you do have a leftover portion, stay far away from the microwave. Preheat the oven to 180 °, and revived stuffed zucchini flowers for about ten minutes. Nothing more than Lazarus, they resurrect for real – Tip tested and approved by me.

Photography: Sara Cartelli.
© The Eat Culture.