Fiori di zucca

Time goes by surprisingly faster here than it ever did in Florence. You can blame it on the sleeping-in, you can blame it on all the episodes of The Big Bang Theory that I've been watching, but you can't blame it on the alcohol (since I'm not drinking any, nor do I usually!).

I've been washing the dishes for my aunt after every meal and even though I always ask her to call me before she starts cooking so that I can help out and learn, she doesn't. Tonight, I marched straight upstairs with her after we went for a walk to visit my other aunt and she let me help her prepare dinner: fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers). They're an ingredient you never see in North America but here in Italy they are quite popular, especially stuffed with ricotta, battered, and fried. So guess how we made it? And guess who (finally) thought of taking pictures after already completing the first step of stuffing the zucchini flowers?

Zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta cheese

First we washed the zucchini flowers and then very delicately stuffed them with ricotta. In the time it took me to do three, my aunt had done almost ten.

Then the stuffed flowers were lightly floured (and not vice versa because you'd get stuffed flours that were lightly flowered! BAZINGA!)

You then coat the flowers in egg and then lightly roll them in corn flour.

Fiori di zucca prior to frying

Deep-fry the zucchini flowers in olive oil until golden brown. Remove from oil and allow oil to drip off, either using paper towels or a metallic grate.

Serve and enjoy!

Warning: these are pretty filling. I can only have two maximum. Which means Nicky/Pleuve/RaeRae can have four.

Today's word of the day is altronde, meaning "besides" or "moreover". The aunt and uncle I stopped by to visit tonight kept using it in their sentences and I had never heard it beforehand. I'm surprised I remembered it without writing it down!