Zucchini Blossoms Stuffed With Tuna Recipes

TUNA-STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with salted water, place the zucchini into the pot, and boil over medium heat for about 5 minutes to soften. Remove the zucchini, slice in half lengthwise, and allow to cool.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Scoop out the flesh from the zucchini halves, leaving a 1/2-inch shell. Set aside the scooped out flesh in a bowl.
• Place the zucchini flesh into a bowl and mash well. Mix in the tuna, onion, tomato, bread crumbs, egg, salt, and black pepper. Lightly stuff the zucchini shells with the tuna mixture. Drizzle about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil over each stuffed zucchini half.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are slightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.

FRIED CHEESE-STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, water and salt until smooth. Set aside.
• In a small bowl combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream, basil, and green onion. Mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons filling into each blossom. Close the blossoms and gently twist the petals to seal.
• In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, pour enough oil to fill the pan about a third of the way. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 350 degrees F. (If you don't have a thermometer a cube of bread will brown in about 1 minute.) Dip the stuffed zucchini blossoms in the batter and allow any excess batter to drip off. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Allow the cooked blossoms to drain on paper towels.
• Season with salt and serve with your favorite marinara sauce or vinaigrette.

ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS STUFFED WITH TOMATOES AND PARMESAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 15x10x2-inch oval baking dish with 1 tablespoon oil. Heat 5 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add breadcrumbs and thyme and stir until breadcrumbs are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in tomatoes, cheese, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Fill zucchini blossoms with breadcrumb mixture, using about 2 teaspoons for small blossoms and 1 tablespoon for large blossoms (be careful not to tear blossoms). Sprinkle any remaining breadcrumb mixture over baking dish. Place zucchini atop breadcrumbs in dish. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil over. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover; chill.)
• Bake until zucchini are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.

CRISP ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS STUFFED WITH GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, cover 3/4 tablespoon of the sumac with 1 tablespoon of boiling water and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Add both types of cheese, oregano, walnuts, lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a generous grind of pepper. Mix well.
• Fill the flowers by carefully opening them and either spooning or piping about a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture into each, gently pushing the filling all the way to the bottom of each blossom but being careful not to fill them too much; if you can get someone to hold the flower open for you, it would make it much easier. Gently twist the tips of the petals to secure the filling inside and set aside until you're ready to fry.
• Pour enough oil into a medium (about 8-inch/20-centimeter) nonstick frying pan so that the oil rises about 1 inch/2 centimeters up the sides of the pan. Place on a high heat for 5 minutes and then turn the heat down a fraction.
• Meanwhile, mix the flour and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Slowly pour in the sparkling water, whisking continuously to form a smooth batter.
• When bubbles start to surface in the oil, test it by dropping some batter into the oil: if it sizzles, you are ready. (The oil should hover between 320 and 350 degrees Fahrenheit/160 and 180 degrees Celsius.)
• Lower a zucchini blossom into the batter, turning to coat completely, before carefully placing in the hot oil. Repeat, cooking a few blossoms at a time, adjusting the temperature between batches so they take about 30 seconds on each side to turn a golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and then sprinkle with salt and the remaining 1/4 tablespoon sumac. Serve at once with the lemon wedges alongside.

ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS STUFFED WITH TUNA

Steps:

• Drain tuna and put into container of food processor or electric blender. Add yogurt, horseradish and mayonnaise and blend to fine paste.
• Open zucchini blossoms (make sure yours have not been sprayed with insecticide) and fill with paste. Tie ends of petals at top as if tying a bandana.
• Beat egg yolk until light and golden.
• Beat whites until moderately stiff. Fold into yolk along with beer.
• Dredge stuffed blossoms in flour, then dip to coat well with batter.
• Heat oil to depth of 1/2 inch in heavy skillet. Add batter-coated blossoms a few at a time. When batter has set on bottom carefully turn blossoms and cook until nicely brown all over.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Prepare the zucchini blossoms for stuffing by gently opening the leaves and pinching out the stamen inside each flower. Set the blossoms aside.
• For the filling, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a sandwich-size resealable plastic bag and snip a small corner from one point at the bottom.
• Open the leaves of a blossom and pipe in about 1 tablespoon of filling (don't overfill). Gently twist the top of the blossom to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining zucchini blossoms and filling.
• Pour about 1 inch of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat to 360 degrees F. (If you don't have an oil thermometer, you'll know the oil is ready if you drop in a scrap of bread and it sizzles on contact and begins to brown after a few seconds.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
• For the batter, whisk the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the seltzer to make a smooth batter.
• When the oil is ready, dip the zucchini flowers in the batter one at a time, letting excess batter drip back into the bowl. Add as many as will fit in the skillet without crowding. Fry, turning once, until the batter is light, crisp and golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove with a slotted spoon to the lined baking sheet to drain and repeat with the remaining blossoms.
• Serve warm with marinara for dipping.

GRILLED ZUCCHINI WITH TOMATOES AND MINT

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill to high heat and lightly oil grate.
• Cut zucchini into thin lengthwise planks; brush with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Arrange on grate without crowding.
• Grill until tender and lightly charred, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a rimmed plate.
• Stir together tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and mint in a bowl. Smash some of the tomatoes to release their juices. Stir once more and spoon over zucchini.

THREE CHEESE STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Remove pistils from the blossoms, but leave the stems intact.
• Make a paste with the garlic and the salt and put in a bowl with the three cheeses, herbs, and pepper.
• Carefully open the petals of each blossom and stuff about 1 tbsp of the mixture into the base.
• Twist the petals together to seal.
• Finish stuffing all blossoms.
• Dip the blossoms 1 at a time into the beaten egg.
• Coat each blossom with flour.
• In a medium skillet, add enough light olive oil to cover by 1/2 inch.
• Fry the blossoms 3 or 4 at a time, turning occasionally over medium heat until golden brown, Drain on paper towels.

LIGHTER STUFFED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Chop 2 zucchini blossoms finely. Transfer to a bowl.
• Stir tofu, feta cheese, olives, garlic, thyme, oregano, and seasoned salt into the bowl. Pour filling into a food processor; pulse until very crumbly. Increase speed blend until smooth and golden, about 3 minutes.
• Pipe filling into remaining 6 blossoms using a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Twist blossom ends carefully to seal in filling. Arrange on a plate; transfer to the freezer.
• Mix whole wheat flour and egg substitute together in a bowl until batter is the consistency of pudding.
• Spread bread crumbs in a shallow dish.
• Dip a stuffed blossom in batter and roll in bread crumbs. Repeat with remaining blossoms.
• Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook blossoms until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes.

ZUCCHINI NOODLE SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK DRESSING

Steps:

• Stir together mayonnaise, yogurt, and buttermilk in a large bowl. Stir in chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest, and minced garlic. Add zucchini and olives. Mix to combine. Stir in salt and cracked black pepper.