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Stuffed courgette flowers
Constantinopolitan Greeks have conjured up their best skill to prepare the perfect viand for summer, a delicate and vegan Greek mezze. Stuffed courgette flowers are great delicacies. This recipe is a real celebration of summer! The vibrant colours of this dish, its bright aroma of fresh herbs, and its tangy lemon flavour will offer you an unforgettable food experience. Oh, let’s make fancy stuffed courgette flowers! We'll be transported simultaneously to a Greek island and our first summer gathering by the sea.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings
4
Ingredients
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings
4
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Open the flower petals, remove the stamens and trim the courgette stems. Carefully wash the flowers and dry them on a towel.
  2. Gather all the ingredients and prepare them as required by the recipe.
  3. Tip the scallions in a large pan set on medium heat and water-sauté with some lukewarm water for 2’, until almost tender. Add the courgettes, tossing gently for about 3’, until they are cooked.
  4. Add the rice with ½ cup of lukewarm water, stirring gently. Toss the mint and dill in the pan. Season the filling with salt and pepper and stir well using a wooden spoon.
  5. When all the water is absorbed, pour ¼ cup of olive oil and immediately remove from the heat. The rice is undercooked at this point.
  6. Gently open up each flower. Spoon a generous teaspoon of filling inside each flower. The flowers must not be completely full in order to close them by lightly twisting the ends of the petals to seal the filling in. Place the stuffed flowers in a wide pot, seam side up tightly together to prevent them from floating up during cooking.
  7. Fill the spaces in with the sliced carrots and baby courgettes.
  8. Dissolve ½ tsp salt into the remaining lukewarm water and pour into the pot along with ¼ cup of olive oil. Place a large heatproof plate on top.
  9. Cook over medium-low heat for 20' until the rice is fully cooked.
  10. Remove from heat. Remove the plate. Squeeze 1 lemon and season with some freshly ground black pepper. Serve the stuffed courgette flowers with the carrots and baby courgettes.
Recipe Notes

🍇 Our Sommelier Suggests 🍇

Warning: We all could use a glass of wine after this!

Constantinopolitan Greeks consider the preparation and consumption of food to be art. The art of food is manifested in this recipe, the creativity of the Constantinopolitan cuisine is manifested in this Greek mezze. Let’s celebrate this with wine and good company. The vineyards located in the fruitful valley of Drama and the ones located in the mystical Orpheus valley surrounded by Pangaio hills, both in the Macedonia region in Greece, give an excellent quality Sauvignon blanc wine. No wonder Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of grape-harvest, winemaking, and wine was worshipped by Greeks in Macedonia! This is a very crisp aromatic wine with notes of white-flesh fruits. Sauvignon blanc is perfect for putting emphasis on the delicate flavours in this dish.

How to prepare and store courgette flowers

During the heat of summer you can find at your local farmers’ market courgettes with flowers still attached. Do not throw away the flowers because they are not only edible, but also beautiful delicacies. There are two different types of flowers: the male and the female. The male flowers bear no fruit; the female flowers are attached on the courgettes. They both have a bright yellow colour. Male flowers that grow on stems are bigger than the female blossoms and are hard to find at the grocery store or farmers’ market. Female blossoms are smaller but they taste the same as the male. Female blossoms are highly perishable and should be used as soon as possible after purchase, preferably within a day; you can store them overnight in the refrigerator, you should remove the stamens and trim the courgette stems and store them inside a reusable food container or a reusable bag. If you want to store male flowers, remove the stamens and place one inside the other, if they remain stacked one inside of the other, they retain their perfect cone shape; store them inside a reusable food container or a reusable bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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