Baked Stuffed Squash Blossoms with Red Pepper Sauce

Springtime at the farmers market makes me so happy. I was downtown bright and early at 8:00 this morning buying food for the week. Of course I had to make one trip back to the car to drop off my bags half way through shopping because I could not carry my basket of strawberries, bunches of asparagus, stalks of rhubarb, green beans and leeks and still have any hands free to get the rest of the items I was buying.

I ran into my friend Mary Lee who is a regular at the market and she alerted me to the squash blossoms that were for sale. You have to be a very early shopper to be able to get the precious squash blossoms. Most farmers hate to pick the blossoms and thus forgo having squash to sell. I understand this because I too hardly ever take the blossoms off my plants, but I may get over that affliction this year.

So tonight for dinner we had a farmer’s market extravaganza. I will save my spring vegetable hash with poached egg for a blog later in the week. Today you get the Baked Stuffed Squash Blossoms with red pepper sauce. Carter had eaten squash blossoms in Paris so I felt certain she would not turn her nose up at this first course of dinner.

6 squash blossoms – ours were about four inches long which is on the small side

1 oz. of goat cheese – crumbled

¼ cup of Parmesan Cheese- grated

½ cup of ricotta- used fat free

2 Eggs beaten

½ c. Panko Bread crumbs- in a shallow bowl

Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

In a bowl mix all the cheeses and add 3 T. of the beaten egg mixture and salt and pepper. Put the cheese mixture in a Ziploc bag and cut of the tip of one corner to make a pastry bag. Hold the squash blossom in one hand and squeeze the cheese mixture into it packing in as much as possible. It is all right if it comes out the top.

Dip the filled blossom into the egg and then then in the panko coating it on all sides.

Place the flower on a cookie sheet that is covered with foil and sprayed with Pam. Repeat until all the flowers are done.

Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 15 mins until the flowers are golden brown and the cheese is bubbling.

To serve place a large spoonful of red pepper sauce on the plate and place the flowers on top.

Red Pepper Sauce

2 Sweet Red Peppers

1 large Onion- chopped

2 T. half and half

Red pepper flakes

Wash you peppers and then turn a burner on your stove on high. Set the peppers on the grates of the stove and using tongs turn them every so often until most of the skin had blackened. When that has happened place the peppers in a brown paper bag and seal it and let them sweat in the bag until they are cool enough to handle.

Put the onions in a pot sprayed with Pam and cook then on medium heat until they are soft- about 10 mins.

Take the cooled peppers and scrape off the skin and cut them open and discard the seeds and the stem. Add them to the onions with salt and pepper and a couple of red pepper flakes. Add 3 T. of water and the half and half and using a stick blender puree the mixture until smooth. Taste for seasoning.