There weren’t any more courgettes ready to eat yet in the garden today so I picked some of the flowers instead, making sure that there were some male ones left to fertilise any female ones that may open over the next day or so. Sometimes we simply cut the flowers in half lengthwise, coat them in batter made from half chick pea flour and half ordinary baking flower, mixed with a little water. Today I decided to stuff them and serve them with a salad made from our first green pepper of the season and a cucumber, also from the garden.
I mixed some chopped mint, salt and pepper into a large tablespoonful of fresh breadcrumbs, added some olive oil to make the stuffing stick together and put it into the flowers. It doesn’t matter if they don’t look very tidy as the batter will cover any gaps.
Then Lo Jardinièr made the batter, coated them and fried them in olive oil while I arranged the salads.
They made a tasty first course at lunchtime, with a little local Picholine olive oil poured over the cucumber and pepper.
olivesandartichokes 
That is such a lovely salad. I very much like courgette flowers but I’d not thought about male and female flowers nor how to distinguish them.
It’s quite easy to tell the difference as the female ones have a small courgette behind them, the males just have a stalk as the ones here did. You can use both, but best only to take the female ones after the courgette has developed.
Delicious and so beautiful in that blue bowl!
Yes, I saw the colours and reached for the camera!
Perfect – we don´t have quite enough flowers yet but when we do…..:)
I have always been fascinated by stuffed flowers, this looks simple and tasty.. c
One of my favorite appetizers…stuffed zucchini. Your lunch had to be delicious.
Your first photo is really beautiful. I cannot tell you the last time I had stuffed blossoms like this. I need to pay closer attention at the farmers market for i guess that would be about the only place I might find some.
You know I really must get round to trying the flowers, although I grow lots of courgettes I’ve never cooked the flowers. And your batter sounds nice and simple and easy – thanks!
Great Blog! Got a new follower here.
My first task in an Italian kitchen was stuffing a few hundred courgette flowers with a ricotta and anchovy mix. Somehow, the epic job of filling them didn’t put me off this great dish.
I love courgette flowers and look for them every summer at the market. The next time I buy some I think I’ll try the half chickpea flour, half all purpose that you talked about here, I’ve only ever had them stuffed.
Those look delicious! I’ll have to try the chick pea flour batter when my zucchini plants start producing.
Beignets de fleurs de courgettes are but a very fond memory from the distant past for me.