Edible squash flowers have a light delicate taste and are the feature of this easy squash blossom pasta recipe.
Most of you know that I do not have a vegetable garden. So why am I writing about squash blossoms?
I had a few gourds and squash as part of my fall decor last year and when they started to get old I tossed them into my compost pile. Low and behold didn't a couple of them start to grow this year.
I did harvest that one pretty green acorn squash above, but there were also plenty of blossoms, so I thought I'd make a simple pasta dish with them.
Just a little FYI. This is a male blossom with an anther in the center. Their job is to pollinate the female blossoms which produce the fruit.
Here's a female blossom. The interior is a little out of focus but you can see the stigma in the center. Also, you can see the beginning of a squash growing right at the base of the bloom.
Most of the time you see articles where people stuff the blossoms with cheese and fry them.
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I had some cherry tomatoes and plenty of fresh basil so I thought they would work well in a pasta.
You can use any kind of pasta you like. The squash blossoms have a very light taste. Different from other edible flowers which often have a perfume-like taste and some are even a little bitter. These are nothing like that.
If you're growing squash like zucchini and already have plenty of fruit, feel free to harvest a bunch of the male blossoms as they are more typically numerous then the female blooms, and have already done their job.
Stuff them. Add them to a salad or make this easy and tasty pasta dish.
Squash Blossom Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound bucatini pasta
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic chopped grated or crushed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh squash blossom 8-10 chopped
- 6-8 cherry tomatoes
- 2/3 cup pasta water
- juice of one lemon
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to the package directions. Do not drain.
- Remove the anthers and stigmas from the inside of the blossoms and discard. Lightly rinse with water and roughly chop.
- In a large saute pan add the olive oil and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes on medium-low heat. Do not let the garlic burn
- Add squash blossoms and tomatoes and saute for a few more minutes.
- Add basil and butter. Stir well
- Add cooked pasta along with 2/3 cup of the pasta water.
- Stir together on low heat for another minute until all ingredients are well combined.
- Remove and stir in lemon juice.
- Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although attempts have been made to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Carole West
Patti this is so interesting and I was aware of the female and male blossoms but didn't realize you could eat them. Great list of ingredients and I think that squash plant was just God's way of saying... It's time to grow a little Startle Garden. Enjoy a Great weekend!
Patti Estep
Thanks Carole. They were very mild tasting and it was fun to be able to use them in a yummy pasta dish. Especially because of the way they volunteered in the compost pile. I had to do something with this nice surprise. And, you may be right. TIme to create a Startle Garden.