Italy-inspired stuffed squash blossoms

A friend of mine is touring around Italy right now. She's also a local photographer, and an amazing one; every day she posts new photos on Facebook of her latest adventures, and over the weekend she posted some absolutely amazing photos of a street-side produce stand, replete with lots of little zucchini with their blossoms still attached. So beautiful, and inspiring.

I have enjoyed stuffing squash blossoms for many years, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so this season! I was a tad disappointed at the blossom size in our garden currently, but I was able to find a number of good size ones--enough for a lovely Sunday afternoon lunch!

Ricotta stuffing for squash blossoms (or ravioli, too, fyi)

1 cup ricotta

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 Tbsp. chopped basil

1 Tbsp. chopped parsely

1 Tbsp. chopped chives

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.

Clean the blossoms by running them under cool water--leave blossoms attached to a few small squash if possible. Gently open the blossoms and stuff with a teaspoon of the ricotta filling. Fill with as much in as you can comfortably fit and still close the petals around the filling.

Warm a skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with a dash of olive oil or nonstick spray.

Crack an egg into a small dish and whisk briefly--add a dash of milk, about 2 tablespoons. Fill another small bowl with flour.

Dip squash blossoms briefly but thoroughly in the egg wash, then roll in flour. Fry in skillet, flipping sides, until browned all around the blossom.

Serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping. Yum.

There was about half the filling left, so next up is ravioli. Maybe with a fresh corn and basil cream sauce. Oh yes.