Stuffed Pumpkin Blossoms
Pumpkin and squash blossoms are a delicious treat. You can enjoy them raw in salads, but also stuff, batter, and fry them to crispy perfection. I had ricotta left over from my gnudi project and always wanted to try stuffing them myself. Before we had even left the pumpkin patch I knew I was scheming up a nice meal for us to enjoy that night. But how to make it even more seasonally supple? I settled on a squash mole.
This squash mole is similar to the mole cacahuate I learned how to make in Oaxaca, except that acorn squash is substituted in for tomatoes. Instead of peanuts, I use my burnt zucchini bread miso. After 2 months of fermentation, the cocoa nibs that make up a significant portion of the miso have broken down into a tantalizing fudge-like mash. As such, the miso tastes more chocolatey than it did when I first used it for making cookies. This was my first time using the miso in a savory application, rather than a sweet one.
Chocolate is an essential ingredient in mole. The squash in this mole lend a gentle sweetness and a creamy texture, while the chiles bring a fruity and smokey heat. There is just enough chocolate from the miso here to really boost the savory and umami flavors in the mole, without making it taste like a dessert. Sweet, savory, fruity, spicy…this mole is dark, rich, and complex. It pairs so nicely with crispy, cheese stuffed flowers, if I do say so myself.
The mole recipe yields about a quart, so you should have plenty more to enjoy once you’ve scarfed down those fried morsels. Enjoy it with rice, beans, and tortillas, or use it as the base of an Autumn soup. The sky is the limit.
For the pumpkin blossoms (serves 2):
- 8 pumpkin blossoms, cleaned of any debris
- 150g ricotta
- 5g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
- 10g caramelized onion
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Morning glories, nasturtiums, or other flowers, to garnish
- 50g oyster mushrooms, sautéed
- A splash of mushroom shoyu, or salt to taste
For the blossom batter:
- 100g ice cold carbonated water
- 60g all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- Neutral oil, for frying
For the squash mole (yields approx. 1 quart):
- 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 600g acorn squash, skin on, chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 100g burned zucchini bread miso
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 dried ancho chile peppers, dry toasted
- 1 dried guajilo pepper, dry toasted
- 2 dried arbol chile peppers
- 2 dried chipotle peppers
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 8 allspice berries
- 3 whole cloves
- Water, to cover
- Salt, to taste
To make the mole: Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped squash along with a dash of salt and cover with a lid. sauté the squash, stirring occasionally, until softened and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stir in the miso and remove the lid, continuing to cook for another 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients minus the salt and stir to incorporate. Cover with water and let simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer the contents to a blender and blend to a puree. Season with salt to taste and set aside.
To make the pumpkin blossom filling: Meanwhile, mix together the ricotta, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and caramelized onion in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the filling to a piping bag and set aside.
To cook the mushrooms: Drizzle olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. When the pan and oil are hot, add oyster mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Splash in some mushroom shoyu, or otherwise simply season with salt to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To make the pumpkin blossoms: Pipe the filling into the blossoms, gently pressing it down as you go. Try not to over-stuff them. Instead, leave enough room so that you can twist the petals of the flower to make loosely seal the filling in the flower. Continue with the remaining filling and flowers.
Add frying oil in your favorite frying vessel so that the bottom 1 inch is covered and preheat to 375F. Meanwhile, combine the flour, ice-cold carbonated water, and baking soda to form the batter. When the oil is at temperature, gently dredge the flowers in the batter and fry them, a few at a time, for about 2 minutes, flipping them over half way through. Transfer the fried flowers to a paper towel to drain any excess oil. Repeat with the remaining flowers.
To plate, ladle 1 ounce of mole into the center of a plate. Use the ladle or a spoon to spread it into a circle. Place the fried blossoms on the bed of mole. Place the oyster mushrooms around, and finish with more flowers to garnish. Serve immediately.
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