I love the delicate flowers of zucchini’s. They are really fun to fry in beignet batter or stuff and sauté with risotto. Besides, if you’re growing zucchini’s right now you probably have more than you know what to do with – so picking a few flowers won’t hurt!

Zucchiniflowerstuffed1
Lobster served with a anise cream sauce and zucchini flower stuffed with lobster risotto

Gently untwist the flower at the top and remove the stamen inside. Then fill the flower with risotto with the aid of a pastry bag. Twist the top of flower back again to form a little risotto pouch and sauté in butter for a few minutes each side. Easy!
Risotto recipe to follow…

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Lobster Risotto
Ingredients
6 Zucchini flowers, stamens removed
200 g / 1 cup arborio rice
1 shallot chopped
2 T olive oil
3 T white wine
300ml / 1 1/2 cup lobster or chicken stock and extra to add and keep creamy while cooking
2 T Parmesan grated
2 T cream
1/2 cup Lobster meat diced
Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in big skillet and cook shallots and rice over medium high heat until rice is translucent and smells nutty.
2. Deglaze pan with white wine when rice turns translucent (don’t brown onions or rice)
3. Add stock and a little water and keep adding as necessary if risotto gets to dry (should be sticky and creamy)
4. Cook for 18 minutes.
5. Add a little olive oil, parmesan, and lobster meat (diced cooked zucchini too if you want to!) and stir. Keep warm over a water bath (bain marie) until ready to fill a pastry bag.
6. Fill pastry bag and then zucchini flower and twist flower at top to close. Put flower on a baking tray with a little olive oil and heat in oven at 160˚C / 325˚F for 6 minutes or until warmed through. Don’t cook flower too much if you want the bright orange look. Otherwise you can sauté in a skillet with a little olive oil.
7. Serve and enjoy!