Zucchini Cheese Tempura Recipes

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.

VEGETABLE TEMPURA

Steps:

• Whisk light soy sauce, mirin, and dashi granules together in a bowl for the sauce; set aside.
• Whisk water and egg yolks together in a bowl until well combined. Sift in flour and whisk until just combined; batter will be a bit lumpy.
• Heat vegetable oil in a wok or a deep saucepan until very hot, but not smoking.
• Dip sweet potato, onion, bell pepper, green beans, and shiitake mushrooms one by one into the batter and transfer immediately into the hot oil. Deep-fry tempura in batches, making sure to not overcrowd the wok, until batter is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from oil and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat until all vegetables have been used. Serve hot with dipping sauce.

TEMPURA ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• If the zucchini is large, remove the seeds with a spoon or melon baller before slicing. Slice the zucchini into fingers about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Note: thinner fingers cook faster than thick ones, so think French fries more than potato wedges.
• In a small bowl whisk together the soy, ginger, sugar, garlic and chili sauce (if using). Adjust seasoning to taste. Set aside.
• Mix flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt together with a whisk to blend thoroughly. When the oil reaches 350°F (see note below if you don't have a candy thermometer), whisk in enough cold seltzer water or cold plain tap water to make the batter the consistency of heavy cream.
• Dip the zucchini in the tempura batter and gently add to the oil. Fry until golden and cooked all the way through. This takes between 5 and 7 minutes, but will vary with thickness of the zucchini slice and how hot the oil is. The oil's temperature will drop when you add the battered vegetables, so allow the oil to come back up to heat between batches. As soon as the zucchini slices are golden and cooked, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon or spider. Place on several layers of paper towel to drain.
• Eat while still hot. Serve with dipping sauce.

ZUCCHINI AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
• Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the zucchini and onion, and cook 5 minutes, or until onion is golden brown.
• In the prepared casserole dish, mix the zucchini, onion, tomatoes, and green pepper. Season with Italian seasoning, and top with cheese.
• Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

BAKED VEGETABLE TEMPURA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a large baking sheet.
• Combine panko and salt together in a shallow bowl. Whisk eggs in a separate small bowl. Combine broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, winter squash, onion, and green beans together in a large bowl; add flour and toss to coat evenly.
• Shake excess flour from each vegetable piece, dip into beaten egg and press into panko mixture. Gently toss between your hands so any panko crumbs that haven't stuck can fall away. Place vegetables onto prepared baking sheet; do not stack.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, turning occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, and sugar together in a saucepan over medium heat until hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add green onion. Serve sauce alongside vegetables.

FRIED BABY ZUCCHINI WITH CHEESE-STUFFED BLOSSOMS

Steps:

• Keeping blossoms attached to zucchini, carefully open blossoms and remove pistil from each. Trim stem ends of zucchini, then, beginning 1/4 inch from blossom end, cut a 2-inch slit lengthwise through center of each zucchini, ending 1/4 inch from stem end (slits will help zucchini cook evenly).
• Stir together cheeses, yolk, and oregano in a small bowl until combined well, then season with pepper. Gently open each blossom and fill with 1 to 2 rounded teaspoons of cheese mixture (depending on size of blossoms), then gently twist end of blossom to enclose filling. (You may have leftover filling, depending on size of blossoms.)
• Heat 1/3 inch oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet until it registers 360°F on thermometer (see cooks' note, below), then fry zucchini (with blossoms attached) in 2 batches, turning once, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes per batch. Transfer with tongs to paper towels to drain. (Return oil to 360°F between batches.) Serve zucchini warm or at room temperature.