Zucchini flowers stuffed with sheep’s milk ricotta, served over pasta with tomato and scallion sauce

This is the recipe from my “Farmers Market Pasta” YouTube video using the most amazing southern Italian ingredients I found after visiting an open-air market where I got extremely inspired! I hope you watch it and follow along with the recipe because it is very easy and bold and full of flavor! Don’t worry if you can’t find a particular ingredient as I give many options for substitutions.

INGREDIENTS

Yield: 2 people*
• x2-3 Garlic cloves, smashed but not chopped
• x6 zucchini flowers
• 100g = 3.5oz sheep’s milk ricotta**
• 200g = 7oz Strozapretti pasta (or any short pasta you like)
• x ½ red onion***
• x3 scallions
• 340g = 12oz either canned whole peeled tomatoes or “passata” which is blended unseasoned jarred tomatoes.
• x1 small red chili pepper (or more if you like it very spicy, omit if you don’t like spicy food)
• salt and pepper
• ¾ cup Extra virgin olive oil
• Pecorino cheese to grate on top at the end

Yield*: notice that this recipe is very easy to multiply. I calculate 100g of pasta and three zucchini flowers per person.

Ricotta**: If you can’t find sheep’s milk ricotta, simply combine cow’s milk ricotta with some soft goat cheese (Chevre) or cow’s milk ricotta with some grated pecorino.

Onion***: On my video I used Tropea onion with the scallion still attached, so if you find the same ingredient whether it is Tropea or not, omit the scallion in the recipe since you already have the green onion and onion in one.

Check out my YouTube video for more info and tips.

Infuse the extra virgin olive oil with the garlic cloves by simply heating the oil to medium heat in a pot and letting the garlic become golden. Just make sure you don’t burn neither the garlic nor the oil, if you do, throw it away and start over. Set half of it aside and put the other half in a sauté pan.
Mix the ricotta in a bowl with some salt and pepper. Place in a piping bag or inside a zip top bag that you can turn into a homemade piping bag by just snipping one corner.
Make sure to stir once in a while and be careful the heat is not too strong as it might stick to the bottom of the pot.
Stuff each flower only up to the point where the petals begin to separate. Give the petals a gentle twist like if you were twisting a candy wrap.
Pan-fry the stuffed flowers in the sauté pan with the evoo you infused earlier. Flip over once they are golden on the bottom and remove from the pan onto a plate once they are golden on the other side.
Do NOT touch the evoo left over in that pan because it is full of flavor from the flowers and the garlic. This is where you’ll sauté your pasta at the end.

Chop the onion and scallions into small pieces. Place the rest of the infused evoo in a medium pot and sauté them, season with salt and pepper. Cook until they start to get light golden in color.
If you got the canned whole peeled tomatoes, pass them through a food mill or simply blend in a blender. Add the passata or blended tomatoes in the pot with the onions and cook for about 20-30 minutes. Taste to make sure it is well seasoned and adjust if necessary.
In the meantime, split the pepperoncino or chili pepper and infuse the left over oil in the sauté pan with it. Simply heat the oil to medium heat and cook it for a little bit. You can add as you like or none at all if you don’t like spicy foods.
When the sauce is ready, you can start boiling your pasta. However know that this sauce can be frozen or canned and kept for a very long time, so you can make extra or make it ahead of time and reheat when you are ready to eat.
Boil the pasta for about 3 minutes LESS than the packaging suggestions for “al dente” because you still need a bit of time to sauté with the sauce.
Add some or all the sauce to the sauté pan with the pepperoncino and heat.
Either drain or simply transfer the pasta to the sauté pan using a colander or ladle. If you do drain it, make sure you reserve some pasta water to thin out the sauce if necessary.
Sauté or cook in the pan for about 3-4 minutes. Taste to make sure it is still al dente and delicious!
Turn the heat off and add some grated pecorino and mix again. Serve and sprinkle some more cheese (if you want…I always do ; on top.
Serve the three zucchini flowers per plate on top of the pasta (if a long time went by, you can always reheat them for just a few seconds in the microwave, they won’t need long to heat up again).

Serve with some basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top. Let me know if you make it…I’m sure you are going to love it!!!

Zucchini flowers stuffed with sheep’s milk ricotta, served over pasta with tomato and scallion sauce

INGREDIENTS

PROCEDURE

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