Kale and Goat Cheese Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Squash blossoms are a very special treat for me at the beginning of summer. Farmers pick some blossoms off of their plants and sell them for a pretty penny at farmers’ markets. Restaurants run a special featuring the golden flowers for a week or two as they have limited supply. They make great toppings on pizza, can be thinly chopped and added to salads, or my favorite- stuffed.

I picked up some local kale and cooked 1/2 of the bunch low and slow in a little olive oil with some garlic, salt, and pepper. When it cooled to room temperature, I mixed it with locally made goat cheese. And that’s it- the stuffing was ready.

Gently open the tips of the blossoms and stuff them with a tablespoon or so of the kale cheese mixture. Twist the ends to keep the filling inside, and start lining them up on an olive oiled baking tray or pan.

A lot of chefs will fry stuffed squash blossoms like a breaded and stuffed pepper, but I’m not looking for a calorie bomb in my home cooking. Let’s save that for special occasions!

Bake them at 375 until they start to brown a little and you hear them “talking.” That’s always the secret to whether food is done or not- Is it making a bubbling gurgling sound? If so, it’s likely cooked!

I served these on with some roasted veggies, and sure had a fun time arranging them on my plate!

Stuffed Ronde de Nice Squash

Here’s another veggie I had never purchased, cooked, nor eaten before. This summer I am consistently working with something new to me, thanks to my “CSA challenge” with Ollin Farms.

Ollin Farms sends out a weekly newsletter to let us know which crops to expect as well as provide some extra info on some crops we might not all know so well. Their newsletter said that Ronde de Nice Squash is a French heirloom variety, perfect for stuffing.

Perfect. Stuffed it would be.

This dish was rather easy. First, preheat the oven to 375.

Cut off the tops to 4 Ronde de Nice Squash and scoop out the inside with a grapefruit spoon, my secret little weapon in the kitchen. Leave most of the squash in the skin, but scoop out the inside flesh and set aside for later. Place the squash, hollow side up, in a Pyrex baking dish that has been drizzled with olive oil.

For the stuffing-

Toss 2 cloves of peeled garlic , 1/2 of an onion, 1/2 green pepper, and 1 sliced tomato (I used Roma), in a little olive oil and sea salt. Grill these for a few minutes to give them a nice flavor. Next, grill the squash flesh that has been scooped out for about 5 minutes or so to cook off the excess water. Then, throw about a salad plate’s worth of sliced focaccia bread on the grill and let both sides turn a beautiful dark brown.

When the grilled veggies are cool to touch, coarsely chop everything and mix it in a bowl with 1/2 cup ricotta cheese. Then, crumble the focaccia into the mixture and mix well. Add some sea salt and pepper and you’re ready to stuff.

Spoon the mixture into the Ronde de Nice Squash, re-place the top, and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until they’re talking to you (my way of saying “sizzling hot”).

I served these with some Grilled Roma Tomato Sauce, grilled Japanese eggplant, and grilled bread. Can you tell that I like grilled foods?