Recipe: Vegan Stuffed Squash Blossoms (Sequestration Meal #119)

My neighbor has a small vegetable garden; she offered me these tomatoes and squash blossoms because she had far too many.

I'd never made squash blossoms before (or eaten them, for that matter). They weren't really difficult--I just piped some vegan ricotta mixed with a flax egg and some Violife Parmesan into the cleaned blossoms, twisted the petals to hold it inside, dipped them into a flour-and-seltzer batter, and fried them until crisp. When they came out, I salted them, let them cool a bit, and ate them all up.

People make a big deal out of squash blossoms but I suspect they just like an excuse to eat fried cheese! That's pretty much what all the recipes are--the blossoms stuffed with cheese, battered, and fried. But on the off chance you have some squash blossoms and want to know how to make them as a vegan, now you know. And hey, fried cheese is good, after all.

Note: This mixture will stuff about 10-20 squash blossoms, depending on their size. But if you have leftover ricotta mix, have no fear; because it's not a real egg you can just use it for other things, like pizza. I have adapted this recipe from the omnivore one at Little Ferraro Kitchen.

Vegan Stuffed Squash Blossoms
Serves: About 2

1 tablespoon ground flax seed
3 tablespoons warm water
Squash blossoms (about 10-20ish, depending on size)
1/2 cup vegan ricotta (I swear by this recipe)
1/4 cup grated vegan Parmesan (I use Violife)
About 4 leaves fresh mint, chopped (optional, but it does add a bit of oomph)
The zest of half a lemon
Salt
Pepper
1 can seltzer
1 cup flour
Canola oil

Make a flax egg by mixing the flax seed with warm water in a small bowl. Set aside for about 5 minutes.

Wash the squash blossoms very carefully but thoroughly. Set in a colander to dry.

Mix ricotta, Parmesan, mint, lemon zest, flax egg, salt, and pepper until well blended.

At this point, if you have a proper pastry bag with a small piping tip, you can use that. If you do not, you can sacrifice a plastic sandwich bag to this process. Either way, put the cheese mixture inside the bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. If using a sandwich bag, cut a hole in one corner and this will be your pastry bag. Pipe the cheese into the squash blossoms, taking care not to overfill them. Gently twist the petals to semi-seal the cheese inside and set aside.

Preheat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet. While heating, you can make your batter.

Mix flour and some salt and pepper, then whisk in the seltzer until the batter is thin, like pancake batter. You may not need all of the seltzer, but you'll need most of it. (You can drink the rest.)

When the oil is hot, use the stem of a squash blossom as a handle and dip the filled blossom into the batter and allow the excess to drip off, then gently lay it down in the hot oil. It should sizzle right away. If not, your oil isn't hot enough. Repeat this process with the other blossoms. If you have a lot and/or your skillet isn't big enough, you can do this in batches.

Put a paper towel down on a plate and put at a convenient distance from your skillet.

Flip the squash blossoms when they are golden brown on the bottom. I found that cooking chopsticks and a spatula worked perfectly for this, but you could also use tongs.

When golden brown on both sides, remove the blossoms to the paper towel-lined plate and salt immediately.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.