Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Recipe: Baked Zucchini Blossoms from Ferraro’s

Ferraro's

Courtesy

Try making these simple cheese-filled zucchini blossoms at home.

Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant is one of the city’s all-time favorite dining destinations and its success over almost 40 years is partially due to the kitchen’s creative approach to classic cuisine. There’s always something new on the menu, including these summer-inspired, ricotta-cheese filled squash blossoms that get an extra kick from a fresh, briny relish.

Baked Zucchini Blossoms

Ingredients:

12 zucchini squash blossoms

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 tbsp. Parmigiano cheese, grated

4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

¼ tspn. black pepper, freshly grated

2 oz. Kalamata olives

1 oz. pine nuts

1 oz. golden raisins

3 oz. Rainbow cherry tomatoes

1. Gently open the blossoms and remove internal flower stamens. Place blossoms on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator.

2. To make the filling, first pass the ricotta through a sieve placed on top of a bowl. This will help eliminate lumps.

3. Add parmigiano, black pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the ricotta and mix until smooth. Put the mixture in a pastry bag or plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes before use.

4. To make the Mediterranean relish, heat oven to 350 degrees and toast the pine nuts for 3 minutes, until golden brown.

5. Cut Kalamata olives and Rainbow tomatoes into quarters. Mix olives, tomatoes, pine nuts, raisins and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl and let this mixture rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

6. Re-open a squash blossom carefully and pull back the tips, then fill half with the ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat until all blossoms are filled.

7. Spread 1 tablespoon olive oil in a baking pan and carefully place blossoms in pan. Bake for three minutes at 350 degrees.

8. Use a spatula to carefully remove blossoms from pan. Put three blossoms on each plate, drizzle with olive oil and cover with Mediterranean relish.