Stuffed Squash Blossoms.

It's that time of year when everyone has squash...and with squash comes squash blossoms! Did you know they are edible too?

This is a male squash blossom, notice how it is on a tall stalk? Many first time gardeners become alarmed when their squash blossom fall off and die, but never develop fruit. They are usually seeing the male flowers, which do not ever develop fruit...only the females do. The male blossoms stay open for a few days so that the female flowers can be pollinated, and then they drop off.

These are the female blossoms. Notice the little squash on the end? If this blossom is fertilized the tiny fruit will develop into a mature squash. If the flower doesn't get pollinated, this little fruit will die and fall off. If you are seeing a lot of fruits dropping off without growing, you may want to hand pollinate your squash. This can easily be done with a q-tip.

When making Stuffed squash blossoms, i only use the male flowers. i pick them from plants that have multiple male flowers, and i only take a few from each. It's important that you leave some males so your females get pollinated. Pick your flowers in the morning, when the blooms are open.

Wash the flowers and remove the stamen. i cut off the stem end, but after looking at a few different recipes for these online, realize that you don't have to. You can just remove the stamen and stem without cutting it all off. i don't think it matters too much, you can do it any way you like.

i stuffed mine with cream cheese, shredded zucchini, garlic and chives. i didn't use a real recipe, just threw it together. i used about a half a block of cream cheese mixed with 1/4 cup shredded zucchini to stuff five or six blossoms. You can add as much or as little herbs and seasoning as you want. These would also be really good with goat cheese or feta..or a combination. Yum!

i place about a tablespoon of filling inside the clean squash blossoms. i pinched the back closed (the cream cheese makes it stick) and twisted the petals closed, again using the cheese as a sort of glue to stick it all together. Then i rolled them lightly in seasoned flour. The seasoned flour i use is a local flour, from Elliston Virginia. It's called Big Spring Mill A #1 Seasoned flour. This is a local favorite.


If you can't find seasoned flour, you can season it yourself with salt, pepper, paprika and any other seasonings you like.

After rolling in flour, i dip in an egg mixture..which basically consists of one or two fresh eggs, beat together with a couple tablespoons of water. Coat it well, then roll in the seasoned flour again and then fry in oil until brown. i never manage to take pictures of the whole process...hee hee.

This is the finished product, they were absolutely delicious!! i'll be making them again soon, and trying a few different filling combinations.