Adventures in Cooking: Zucchini Flower Fritters
Have you ever eaten Zucchini Flower Fritters? In Italian, they’re called Frittelle di Fiori di Zucchini. And, for my family, they are a summertime staple since that’s the most abundant time to find Zucchini flowers in the garden.
Zucchini Flower Fritters or Fritelle di Fiori di Zucchini
Baros’ second Taste of Zucchini Flower Fritters
I don’t know if these are a staple in every Italian-American household, but growing up they were a staple in mine, especially when we had a garden in the yard. My grandmother would pick a bunch of the male zucchini flowers* or male pumpkin flowers and fry them up for us in a couple of different ways. She would fry them up simply but other Italians stuff the whole flower with ricotta and mozzarella. And then, my brother and I wouldn’t eat them because we were super picky eaters and we didn’t eat vegetables!
In retrospect, it’s such a shame that we wouldn’t because now I know that they’re delectable! If I remember correctly, I didn’t actually start liking them until I lived in Italy back in 2006 (a long, long time ago!). I think my brother started eating them and enjoying them in super recent years (like this year, now that he has an epic garden!).
A couple of weeks ago, Mom came over and made them for Baros and myself. It’s the first time in a long time that I’ve had them and it was Baros’ first time EVER eating this wonderful dish! In Turkey (as far as we know), they don’t use the flowers from zucchini and pumpkin in recipes. They only use the zucchini and pumpkin themselves.
As a result, Zucchini Flower Fritters were something new for Baros and he really enjoyed them.
When mom made them the first time, we actually did an Instagram Live to capture her recipe and process so make sure you check out our IGTV videos Part I and Part II.
Maybe on another occasion, we’ll write up a blog on Churrasco! Because it’s just so delicious!
They turned out delicious when she made them (as always)! They took a little more than an hour to cook. 10 minutes to mix up the batter, about 45 minutes for the batter to rise and then 10-20 minutes to cook up all the Fritelle.
We had a lot of fun with mom and are so happy that she wanted to cook for us! To supplement the fried goodness, Baros cooked up a perfectly medium rare Churrasco on the grill. It was a great treat for mom and for us.
A week later, we were in my brother’s garden and my mom picked us some more male zucchini flowers*. So, for anyone who may not know (because we didn’t), zucchini, squash and pumpkin flowers have a gender. The female is the flower that actually produces the zucchini while the male doesn’t produce a fruit. The male has a single long pollen covered stamen that is essential for pollination and the female has a stigma with multiple stems. Once pollinated, the females will grow a zucchini behind them and the male will remain on a simple long stem. (Don’t pick all the male flowers until you see some zucchini already growing since you need both flowers to get zucchini, pumpkin or squash!).
We were sent home with a bag of zucchini flowers and green beans as well as a couple of tomato and pepper plants for our deck garden!
Then with our own supply of zucchini flowers in tow, we made our own Fritters! Let me tell you, I was worried because I haven’t used yeast in a REALLY long time. But in the end, everything worked out! We mostly followed mom’s recipe (except I didn’t measure… I eyeballed everything like my Grandmother used to do!). They came out pretty good for a first attempt! We will definitely be trying again when baby brother supplies us with more zucchini flowers!
All the ingredients you need (if you look close enough, you can see the yeast in water in the background!)
Zucchini Flower Fritters
Ingredients:
1-2 cups of zucchini flowers
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 tbs yeast
2 1/4 cups warm water (add till correct consistency)
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying
In a small bowl, mix the yeast into the warm water to activate. The water must be warm or it won’t rise!
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper. Slowly add the water and yeast, mixing as you go. Use a wooden spoon (or a silicone spatula) to blend until the lumps are gone.
Cover with a clean towel and place into a warm, dark space. Let rise for 45 minutes to an hour for maximum height. The batter should just about double in size so make sure your bowl is big enough that there isn’t any spillage.
Clean the zucchini flowers. Rinse the inside and outside well. Remove the short spiky leaves from the base of the flower but keep the stamen inside because it’s tasty. Then tear the zucchini flowers into pieces and fold them into the risen batter. (You can also keep the zucchini flowers intact and stuff with ricotta and mozzarella mixture if you want to).
This is the beginning of the rise. I didn’t add enough flour initially so it should actually be a lot thicker than this! Mom’s had a different consistency than mine as a result. Both were very good but quite different.
When you have an even spattering of bubbles on your fritters, it’s basically time to flip!
Add a neutral oil to a frying pan. It should well coat the bottom. You may need to add more oil as you cook so keep it handy.
Get the oil nice and hot. You can drip a bit of batter into the pan as a test. If the oil bubbles around the batter immediately, it’s ready. If not, let the oil heat for a little longer before adding the fritters. (Keep in mind that you will need to lower the heat as the pan continues to heat to make sure that nothing burns).
Drop about a quarter cup of batter into the hot oil. You can cook 4-6 at once (depending on the size of your panbut don’t crowd the pan as they become difficult to flip.
Let the fritters get golden brown on the bottom. When the tops begin to bubble like pancakes, flip them. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until golden on the bottom as well. Make sure to cook them long enough for the centers to cook. You can always use a toothpick to double check.
Remove from heat and place onto paper towels to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with a little salt while warm and enjoy.
Repeat with the rest of the batter. Put paper towel between each layer of fritelle.
You can serve piping hot or at room temperature. They are great on their own or you can add a dipping sauce too!
The finished fritters
It’s a pretty simple, if slightly time consuming process. But you should definitely try it out.
On our attempt, we ate them as a main course with the green beans from the garden on the side. We also used Cacık made by Baros as a dipping sauce. Soo good!
So much Deliciousness!
Have you ever made Zucchini Flower Fritters? Are they common in your culture? Do you eat the flowers as well, or just the zucchini itself? Let us know in the comments below!
