Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Fried Daylily Flowers with Ricotta


Fried zucchini flowers are a classic Italian dish. However I do not have space to grow zucchini so I used daylily flowers instead.
 
Ingredients
1 C Whole Milk Ricotta (drained)
1 Large Egg
½ C Fresh Chives (thinly sliced)
¼ C Grated Parmesan
¼ tsp Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
12 Daylily Flowers (stamens removed)
1 lb Fresh Tomatoes (roughly chopped)
½ C + 2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 Leaves Basil (sliced in strips)
1 tsp Salt

Directions

Place the Ricotta in a strained over a bowl in the refrigerator. Drain for at least 30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, chives, grated parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Using a teaspoon, stuff each daylily blossom with 1 ½ teaspoons of filling and set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss the diced tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, basil, salt and pepper.

In a skillet, heat the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil over high heat until just smoking. Carefully place 2-3 flowers at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides. Be careful, the oil may splatter. Sprinkle lightly with salt after they are fried.

Serve the fried blossoms topped with the tomatoes.

To print a copy of this recipe go to Fried Daylily Flowers with Ricotta.