Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms, or Sciuille co la Pastetta: There's something exotic about Neapolitan cooking, if one is looking at it from a plain Tuscan perspective like mine. It's tremendously rich, and the word "libidinous" often comes to mind. As in this stuffed zucchini blossom recipe from Cavalcanti, the great 19th century Neapolitan gastronome. To serve 6-8:
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- ** The Beginning **
- 12 zucchini blossoms, stemmed, pistils removed, gently washed, and patted dry
- ** The Dough **
- 2 1/2 cups (250 g) flour
- 3 eggs
- Salt & pepper
- 1/2 ounce (10 g) baker's yeast (the live cakes sold in supermarkets)
- Milk
- ** The Filling **
- 3 ounces (75 g) prosciutto, diced
- An egg
- 6 ounces (150 g) provolone, fresh or smoked, finely diced
- Salt and a little pepper
- Minced basil and parsley
- A cup of freshly grated Parmigiano
- Cooking:
- Olive oil for frying
Preparation:
Dissolve the yeast in a demitasse cup of warm milk.Make a ring of the flour and drop into it the eggs, dissolved yeast, and a pinch of salt. Knead the mixture, adding enough more milk to obtain a smooth soft dough. Cover it and put it in a warm place to rise.
Combine the ingredients of the filling and season it to taste. Fill the blossoms with the mixture (you may find it easier to do this if you gather the filling into a pastry bag with a wide nozzle, and squeeze it into the flowers).
Roll out the dough, cut it into squares, and wrap the blossoms in them, crimping the edges well to seal them in. Fry them until they're golden brown in abundant hot oil. Drain them well on absorbent paper, and serve them hot.
A wine? A Falanghina del Taburno, a white.
