Zucchini Flower Fritters: The Real Niçoise Recipe.
Zucchini flower fritters are a typical savory specialty from the Nice region. These refined-flavored fritters can be enjoyed as an appetizer or main course, accompanied by a salad or ratatouille.
Ingredients
Here are the necessary ingredients to make Zucchini Flower Fritters for 4 people:
a bouquet of about twenty zucchini flowers
150g of flour
2 eggs
about 20cl of milk
salt and pepper
Garlic and parsley
frying oil.
Note: if you grow Nice zucchinis in your garden, you can harvest your own flowers (to be picked in the morning). Be careful: do not use the flowers located at the end of the zucchinis but the flowers located independently on the stems.
Preparation of the dough.
The preparation of the dough for beignets is rather easy.
1- Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
2- In a bowl, make a well with the flour. Add 2 pinches of salt and 2 turns of pepper mill.
3- Add the egg yolks to the center and start mixing.
4- Gradually incorporate the milk until obtaining a smooth dough without lumps.
Note: to make zucchini flower beignets, you must prepare a slightly thicker dough than pancake batter. Adjust the amount of milk to obtain the right consistency.
5- Make a persillade and add it directly into the dough.
6- Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold them into the preparation.
Note: to save time, you can use whole eggs. In this case, add half a sachet of baking powder to the dough for beignets.
7- Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes before cooking the beignets.
Preparation of zucchini flowers.
While the dough for the fritters rests, prepare the zucchini flowers.
1- Gently clean the flowers under a stream of cold water to remove any dirt and place them on absorbent paper.
2- Cut off the stems and bases of the flowers that are not edible.
3- Finally, open them up to remove their orange-yellow pistil. You should only keep the calyx of the flower as shown in the photo below.
Frying donuts.
To cook zucchini flower fritters, you can of course use olive oil as our grandmothers did. Personally, I prefer to use grape seed oil which is suitable for frying and can withstand high temperatures.
1- Heat frying oil.
2- Carefully dip each flower in the batter before placing it directly into the hot oil.
3- Cook the zucchini flower fritters for one to two minutes on each side.
4- Drain the fritters as you go on absorbent paper.
Note: if you have leftover batter, you can incorporate thin slices of zucchini or fresh tomato cubes to make other delicious fritters.
