Zucchini Flowers - or how not to have to eat zucchini all summer!

Have you ever grown zucchini - or courgettes as they are known in this part of the world?

If so I am sure you would know that it is the most productive plant of them all....

You will have had the experience of watching tiny little fruit develop into gigantic great marrows in the time it takes to say jack robinson! And from initial excitement at the first signs of developing fruit - the realisation of your dream of tender sweet veggies - to the dawning that you now have an overwhelming surplus of giant marrows - and there is absolutely no way that it can be dealt with! And everyone you know is in the same boat.............

Every mode possible is brought to bear to try to maintain consumption to the maximum - zucchini is eaten cooked, raw,

given away, made into pickles and relishes, and so it goes on.

In our house zucchini bake was a popular way of diminishing the pile - it was a frittata style dish made with lots of eggs and cheese, and mountains of grated zucchini. Another was ratatouille - wonderful with the fresh tomatoes which are so tasty at the same time of year. Zucchini were steamed, boiled, baked, fried, included in stir fries, lightly steamed with onions, garlic and butter, piled in flans to become zucchini quiche, grated to make into cakes and tea cakes, and so the list went on.

There was no doubt that by the end of summer everyone was heartily sick to death of eating zucchini, regardless of how it was disguised!

Of course there is a solution to this glut, and the trick I have discovered is to eat the flowers before they produce the fruit - or at least keep them in balance!

We no longer have space to grow our own, but we are able to save others from the zucchini glut! The nearby Italian markets have great crates of zucchini flowers in summer - for about €1.50 one can buy a bunch of about 10 male flowers with long stalks. Or one can purchase very small fruit with the flowers still attached.

The flowers need to be brushed lightly or gently wiped with a damp cloth to remove any debris.

The petals and baby fruit can be torn/finely sliced and added to a salad. One of my favourites is to add the flowers to a very thin omelette which is allowed to 'set' rather than be folded. Gently press the flattened flower into the beaten egg preparation in the pan - it looks quite exotic and tastes yummy! This is also really good made with pumpkin flowers.

My very special favourite is to remove the stamen and stuff each flower with a mix of garlic, ricotta and parmesan cheeses, salt and pepper. Add to this mix whatever other seasonings you like - chives, dill, parsley, chervil, basil, finely chopped sun dried tomatoes, chopped green onions, a touch of chili - all are delish and the only limit is your imagination! Use a plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe the mix into the flower, twist the top of the flower to secure the filling and set the flowers aside in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.

Prepare some light batter - my most successful recipe uses 3/4 cup flour (I use a mix of rice, plain and maize to minimise wheat content), a pinch of salt and 1 cup of cold soda water. Mix it together ( it froths a bit which is quite ok) - and let it rest until you are ready to use it.

Heat peanut or other vegetable oil until very hot, gently cover each flower with the batter and fry until crisp and delicious! The inside is rich and creamy while the thin batter coating is crisp and piping hot - eat immediately!

(For an excellent tutorial with stunning step by step photos have a look at taste buddies - http://allthingsnice.typepad.com/tastebuddies/2008/08/test-test.html.)

For a "no fry and less dairy" version of stuffed zucchini flowers, make a mix of finely chopped onion and garlic (lightly fried until soft), grated zucchini, salt, pepper, chopped basil, parsley, and tomato with some freshly grated parmesan cheese, and some olive oil. Stuff the flowers after removing the stamen. Place the flowers on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, add a couple of tablespoons of water or white wine to the tray and bake in a moderate oven until soft - about 10 minutes. YUM....... and bon appétit!