Fiori di Zucca in Pastella & Fritti. Fried Zucchini Flowers Recipe

This is a new one for our books. I have seen my grandma and great grandma making Zucchini Flowers a number of times, and failed to get the recipe each and everyone of them. I guess I was missing the good old tricks, also I never managed to find Zucchini Flowers this good (usually they get mushy in the transit from the supermarket to the kitchen). The batter is something I would like to work on a little more, but I think for a first attempt, it wasn't bad at all!

Ingredients 

15 Zucchini Flowers 
100g Flour
100ml Milk
1 Egg
Salt & Pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Method

1. To make the batter: whisk the egg, add the milk, and lastly sift the flour whilst still combining. You should get a fairly liquid batter, however if it's too thick, add 1/4 glass of white wine. This should give it a lovely lightness and flavour. 

2. Remove the pistil if there, be careful not to break the petals. Delicately wash the flowers, and pat dry. 

3. Heat up the vegetable oil and when hot, pass the flower through the batter, drip and immerse in the oil. Make sure you hold the flower from the bottom of the stem, roll over the batter so that the whole surface is cover, then gently throw in the pan. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes, then turn over and cook through.

4. When ready, remove from the pan and pat dry to remove the excess oil. Serve with gorgonzola cheese, some salad and a glass of Merlot.