Kitchen Garden Delicacies ~

One of the delicious  perks of

a kitchen garden, is

nosing around each day and

seeing what’s ripe

for the picking.

Today I plucked a few zucchini 

blossoms from our little

willow garden bed,

that is now spilling over with

possibility.

Most of the flowers in our  garden are

beautiful & edible.  I like it that way. Our

grandma used to batter and

fry these  little beauties…

 delicious! I however, decided to bake  them but

not before stuffing the blooms with a tasty

ricotta and fresh thyme filling. I

add a few tablespoons of freshly grated parm ,

a generous drizzle of good olive oil,  a little lemon

zest and a sprinkling of  nutmeg…salt & pepper too.

(This is a wonderful little spread on 

bread  or crackers by the way…) I remove

the stamens, then spoon the

filling into each blossom, carefully

folding over the ends. Next, I drizzle on 

more olive oil and  a dusting of  parm. 

Bake the flowers at 350 to 375 for 10 minutes,

until the ricotta filling oozes  a bit and

the blossoms become golden brown.

They are seriously good! They make a 

beautiful appetizer or first course,

or in this  case…

lunch. If you haven’t planted zucchini,

try your farmer’s market,