Fried Squash Blossoms with Ricotta

Name: Fried Squash Blossoms with Ricotta
Yield: makes 40 squash blossoms
Ingredients: 1 cup fresh ricotta; 1 cup small-cubed low-moisture mozzarella (about 5 1/2 ounces); 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten; 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste; 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, plus more to taste; 40 squash blossoms; 2 cups rice flour (preferably Mochiko brand); 2 cups sparkling water; Grapeseed oil or another neutral-flavored oil, such as canola oil, for frying; 1 lemon, halved, for squeezing over the blossoms; Maldon sea salt or another flaky sea salt, such as fleur de sel

January 26, 2012

I have never met anyone who doesn’t like these squash blossoms. It would seem like it would be hard to go wrong, considering the combination of deep-fried batter and ricotta cheese, but I find that rarely do restaurants get the filling right. It took us a lot of tries to come up with ours, but luckily Matt and I both knew what we wanted and we both wanted the same thing, which was a light fluffy filling that also had a melting component, which is why we added mozzarella. We dip the blossoms in tempura batter because we like how light and crunchy tempura is. I try not to be brand-specific in my recipes, but in this case we recommend you use Mochiko rice flour, which you can find at conventional grocery stores, and which we think makes for the crispest finished product.

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