Fried Zucchini Flowers With Alici E Limone

Photo: Frank Fariello

Ingredients

1 pound golden creamer potatoes peeled, and

cut into 1/2" cubes

12 zucchini flowers

1 egg

1/4 pound marinated anchovy fillets rinsed, drained,

and roughly chopped

2 scallions thinly sliced

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1 lemon cut into wedges

Preparation

Boil potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes, until soft but not water-logged. Drain, allow to cool 10 minutes, and mash to a somewhat smooth consistency. Add the egg, anchovies, scallions, 4 tablespoons of the oil, lemon juice, thyme and salt and pepper, to taste.

Pick through open zucchini flowers to remove stamens and check for bugs. Using a small teaspoon, stuff each blossom with 2 teaspoons of the filling.

In a 10- to 12-inch non-stick saute pan, heat the remaining olive oil until smoking. Place 4 flowers into the pan at a time and cook until golden brown on both sides. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange 3 blossoms on each of 4 warmed dinner plates and serve immediately, with bruschetta drizzled with best-quality extra-virgin olive oil, and lemon wedges.

This recipe yields 4 servings.