“Too Many Zucchini” Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Last week, my zucchini plant took a big leap towards garden dominance. Having sat relatively quietly for months, letting the adjacent bush beans and herbs flourish, suddenly—overnight—the zucchini made its move. It’s taken over the entire bean patch, which I suppose is okay now that their harvest is mostly over. But the sheer number of fruits coming from this one plant is utterly baffling; we ate just one or two in the entire month of July, and a smattering in early August. Now if I turn my back for one day I’ve got a baseball bat of a squash on my hands. I do love zucchini, but it’s time to curb this one’s growth and find another use for the blossoms.

So, we stuff!

It’s easy to do with just about anything you’ve got in the fridge, but the setup in the photo above features a couple of sticks of mozzarella (string cheese would work well here!) wrapped in the last two pieces of prosciutto from the deli drawer and some fresh basil leaves.

You could fill these with ricotta, cottage cheese, goat cheese, even grated sharp cheddar and skip the ham altogether. Or, for a more traditional take, do like the Italians do and stuff each blossom with a bit of fresh mozzarella and an anchovy before frying. A quick tomato sauce and a scattering of minced oregano finishes that dish nicely.

The key to a crispy, golden fried exterior is to use seltzer in the batter. Whisk together a cup of all-purpose flour, a good pinch of salt and pepper, some grated Parmigiano if you have it, and loosen the whole thing with a good glug of plain seltzer, whisking until it’s the consistency of thin pancake batter.

Before you stuff your blossoms with the filling of your choice, be sure to look inside to free any bees(!) and carefully pinch out and discard the stamen (leaving it in will result an a bitter blossom); pinch the ends closed, coat in batter and fry in a hot nonstick skillet coated with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with tomato sauce, if you like. Or just some hot sauce and a lemon!