Recipe by Chef Andy Howell Photos by Jacqueline Murphy
Recipe to stuff 12 squash blossoms.
Stuffing
¾ cup goat cheese at room temperature ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 egg yolk Several turns of freshly ground black pepper Pinch of cayenne pepper
Batter
1 cup self-rising flour or AP flour with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a pinch of salt ½ cup corn starch 1 cup of ice water, adjust as needed Oil for frying
Stuffing Instructions
Mix all stuffing ingredients until fully incorporated. Add stuffing to pastry bag fitted with a medium tip or one quart zipper bag with a corner cut off.
Squeeze mixture into each blossom leaving room to fold petals over the top to seal.
Cover and refrigerate for half an hour or up to two days. Save any leftover stuffing and use as a topping for warm pasta dishes.
Batter Instructions
Mix dry ingredients then slowly add water until you get the consistency of thin pancake batter.
Pour an inch of oil into a heavy skillet and heat to 350 degrees or until a drop of batter gurgles brightly when dropped in the pan.
Dust the chilled stuffed blossoms with flour, dip into batter, shake gently, then fry until golden; a couple of minutes on each side.
Drain on a paper bag or towel.
Serve over cold beans, arugula salad, risotto, or simply pass as an appetizer as you would with fried ravioli.
Chef Andy Howell has a long and distinguished history of restaurant entrepreneurship in Richmond. He apprenticed under Chef Bob DiCapri and went on to cook in some of Richmond’s finer establishments — The Brass Knocker, La Petite France, Poor Richards — before opening his first restaurant, the Zeus Gallery Café, at the age of 25. Over the next 29 years Chef Howell went on to open Portabella in Petersburg, and Avenue 805, Café Rustica, and Camden’s Dogtown Market in Richmond.
These days Andy is renovating a historic farm in Cartersville and reducing his recipes for two people. He’s available for special event catering until he’s ready to focus on his next culinary venture.
You can order locally grown squash blossoms this week via our online farmers market, Fall Line Farms and Local Roots
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