Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with a Lightly Browned Cheese Sauce

 

 

Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with a Lightly Browned Cheese Sauce, or Fiori di Zucca Ripieni e Gratinati: Zucchini flowers, because of their delicacy, are an excellent foil for chefs. Here's an elegant recipe that will serve 6:

INGREDIENTS:

  • The Zucchini Flowers:
  • 20 zucchini flowers, stemmed, pistils removed, washed, and gently patted dry
  • 8 ounces (200 g) champignons
  • A medium carrot
  • 1/3 cup cream
  • 10 asparagus tips
  • 2 shallots
  • 3 slices white bread (U.S. style loaf bread), dipped in milk
  • 2 yolks
  • Grated Parmigiano
  • Unsalted butter (3 tablespoons)
  • Olive oil (3 tablespoons)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • The Sauce:
  • 6 ounces (weight; 150 g) clarified butter
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 2 yolks
  • A minced mixture of fresh parsley, marjoram and thyme (about a tablespoon in all)

PREPARATION:

Rub the mushrooms clean (or rinse them if need be), and dice them with the carrot, asparagus tips and shallots, and sauté the mixture in a mixture of olive oil and butter that you've already heated in a pan (the amount of fat is an estimate; if need be add more).  After a few minutes add the cream, season to taste with salt and pepper, and cook the mixture over a gentle flame until the vegetables are done and the juices bind it all together.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and work in the moistened bread, yolks, and three tablespoons of Parmigiano, and then let it all cool.

Gather the filling into a pastry bag with a wide nozzle and fill the zucchini flowers with it, being careful not to tear them.

You will now need to prepare the sauce: Simmer the wine, vinegar, and about 2 tablespoons of water until the mixture is reduced to a volume of about a quarter cup. Lightly beat the yolks in a bowl, then whisk in the reduced liquid, then put the mixture over a double boiler, and, working over very low heat, slowly whisk melted unsalted butter to the mixture, as if you were making mayonnaise; continue adding butter and whisking until you obtain a thick sauce, which you will want to season with the minced herbs.

Put the stuffed flowers on an elegant, oven-proof dish, drizzle the sauce over them, and broil everything just long enough to brown the sauce. Serve them hot.