Squash Blossom Frittata

One of my favorite to do during summer is to visit all the farmers’ market around my area. I just love the vibrant colors of produce the local farmers were selling. Each time I am at the farmers market I will be on a look out for the bright orange squash blossoms as you would rarely come across it. These blossoms are too fragile and don’t last too long for most supermarkets to handle so you can only find it at farmers’ markets or some upscale grocery stores. These blossoms are generally from zucchini plants, though the flowers of other summer squashes may be eaten, as well. The blossoms have a subtle squash flavor.

I never knew about this delicate delicacy until I came to America. I was walking around the Farmer’s market at Union Square New York and saw these bright orange flowers in one of the vegetable stand. I thought nothing of it until I saw a chef on the Food Network use it in one of his dish. From then on I was obsessed of it. It is pretty expensive but that doesn’t stop me from buying it. I just love to eat the blossom. I normally will make omelet out of it but occasionally I will stuff them with cheese and fried it. I tried planting some zucchini this year but I doubt it will give me enough blossoms for me to make a dish out of it ha ha.. Well, I found some of these blossoms at our local farmers market last week and I grab 2 bags without giving it much thought and get it cooking that very day. I used half of it to make this frittata and with the balance I might make some Korean pancake.

Ingredients:

18-20 squash blossoms
5 eggs
¼ cup milk
A small bunch of chives - cut small
2 shallot – thinly sliced
1 clove garlic – chopped
3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp
2 tbsp butter

1. Check the inside of the blossoms for insects; remove part of the stems, stamen inside the flower and outer green spiky leaves. Wash and gently pat them dry. Reserve 8 of the blossom for the topping.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree F.
3. Roughly chop up the rest of the blossom.
4. In a large bowl, crack up the eggs; add in the milk, cheese, salt and pepper. Whisk it together.
5. Heat up an oven safe pan; melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and shallot and garlic until soft and fragrant. Add in the chopped blossom and chives. Give it a quick stir for 20 seconds.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the pan; stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Now lay your reserved squash blossoms on top. Just let it cook until it looks about half set, the bottom should look like an omelet but the top is still water.
7. Put the whole pan into the oven and let it bake until lightly brown and puffed. Mine took about 15 minutes.
8. Take it out from the oven; you can sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top if you like. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

I am submitting this post to Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen)"