v:gourmet

Wendall Barry – a brilliant author/poet/thinker – wrote “We live the given life, not the planned.” Today I must agree. What I had planned was a vegan clafouti with carefully researched options and sourced ingredients. What I was given was some gorgeous zucchini blossoms fresh from the vine. The gift inspired me, I cooked up some savoury stuffing, and friends and family around the table fought over the last blossom of delight. These are delicate, interesting, uplifting, and versatile enough to go with any of your best-loved dishes. Check out your local farmers’ market and stuff away!

4 tbsps olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tbsps capers, chopped

6 olives, pitted and chopped

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1/4 cup panko or course bread crumbs

3 tbsps fresh herbs, chopped

sea salt and pepper

10 zucchini blossoms

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add garlic and sauté another minute or two until garlic is fragrant. Add chopped capers and olives. Add quinoa and panko. Add fresh herbs as well as salt and pepper to taste. Let all the ingredients simmer away for a few minutes until well blended and cooked through.

Meanwhile, trim the stem at the bottom of the zucchini blossom. Carefully remove the stamen from inside the flower being careful not to rip the delicate flower. Add approximately 1 – 2 tsps of stuffing to each blossom and then twist the ends to seal in the goodness. Place stuffed blossoms on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.