Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed with Rice, or Fiori di Zucchina al Riso: Rice works very well in fillings, and in filling these zucchini blossoms gains pleasing cheesy accents. To serve four you'll need:
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup rice (any kind will do)
- 4 baby zucchini
- 16 zucchini blossoms, stemmed, pistils removed, washed, and gently patted dry
- A bunch of parsley, minced
- 4 ounces (100 g) scamorza (a firm, elastic slightly sharp
- South Italian cow & goat or cow's milk cheese; substitute with Provolone if need be)
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
But the rice in a pot with slightly more than twice its volume of lightly salted water or vegetable broth and cook it until it's done.Dice the zucchini and cook them for a few minutes in a little olive oil, with a small minced clove of garlic, salting lightly.
Combine the cooked rice and the zucchini in a bowl and mix carefully; you don't want the zucchini to become a paste.
Preheat your oven to 160 F (180 C).
Fill the zucchini blossoms with the rice 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), putting a cube of scamorza in the middle of each flower as you fill it.
Lay the zucchini blossoms on a lightly oiled oven-proof serving dish. Drizzle a little more oil over them and bake them for about 15 minutes.
The wine? A deft white, for example a Chardonnay from Friuli's Collio.
