Squash Blossom Frittata
I know what you’re thinking. Squash Blossoms?
Well it’s certainly not something I would have normally picked up. At least not before I met my husband, who, I discovered quickly, was a very adventurous eater. He’s someone who looks a menu and goes, “That looks weird. I’ve never heard of it. I want to try it!” After seven years of marriage, this habit is now pretty normal to me, and honestly his food curiosities end up being delicious nine times out of ten so I roll with it!
But I still haven’t answered your question. Yes. Squash Blossoms. They’re exactly what they sound like. If you’ve ever grown squash or pumpkins, you’ve probably seen these. We do not grow pumpkins or squash because I have a brown thumb, but we DO have a Farmers Market nearby that operates every Saturday.
What with the COVID pandemic and all, it had been almost two years since we ventured out to the Farmers Market, and we were so happy to finally go. So was our dog! He was tuckered out after that excursion.
When we arrive at the Market, we usually scope the place out to see what is being offered, then go back and buy what we want. On Saturday, we picked up some squash blossoms, some white beech and lions mane mushrooms, as well as onions, green beans, and beets, all fresh from the farm. We also found some amazing pastries - a pistachio chocolate croissant, and an oregano, olive, and goat cheese pastry that I unfortunately cannot remember the particular French name of.
That’s the beauty of a local Farmers Market. You not only get the opportunity to support local small businesses and farmers, but you also get access to unique and tasty items that might not be available at your grocery store.
But I digress.
As soon as we saw those squash blossoms, we knew we were going to make frittata.
Making a Squash Blossom Frittata
A frittata is an egg dish cooked slowly over low heat, first on the stove and then finished in the oven. It is a wonderful dish because it is so versatile! It can be made with just about anything! The egg is used as a base but you can add mushrooms, peppers, ham, sausage, spinach, tomatoes, artichokes, arugula, zucchini - the possibilities are endless! You can also use many types of cheese - we’ve done cheddar, feta, and gruyere and I’ve seen recipes with mozzarella and parmesan too.
For our frittata, we started by cutting up about 4 or 5 strips of bacon into small bits and crisping them up in a cast iron skillet.
While that was cooking, I cracked nine eggs into a bowl and beat them with a whisk.
♫ “
Just eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it; Get yourself an egg and beat it” ♫ Yes I am a Weird Al fan. You’re welcome.
After beating the eggs, I added 4 tablespoons of milk and whisked that in. I personally use Lactaid brand milk and can’t taste any difference from the regular kind.
We trimmed the greens off the onions and rinsed them, then separated the white beech mushrooms, which have a subtle, slightly sweet flavor. I’m not usually one for raw mushrooms, but these were pretty good!
After the bacon was done, we set it aside to drain on a paper-towel covered plate and then wiped out a little of the grease.
After adding maybe 2 tablespoons of butter, and sautéed the mushrooms and onion greens in the same cast iron pan that the bacon had cooked in.
After we let those cook for a few minutes, we added about 3 cloves of minced garlic and sautéed that for a minute.
Time to introduce the star of the show! We removed the stamens from the middle of the squash blossoms, then gently and briefly submerged them in a bowl of water to get rid of any dirt. We let them dry out on a tea towel.
Time to put everything together! We cut up some deli sliced swiss cheese into strips (we unfortunately didn’t have any gruyere, which would have been preferable in this case with its nutty flavor), and added the bacon back into the pan.
We added the egg mixture, gave it a stir to incorporate the other ingredients, then carefully laid the squash blossoms in the pan. We cooked it on the stovetop until the bottom was set but the top was still liquidy.
We finished the frittata in a 400 degree F oven for about 10 minutes and it came out beautiful and scrumptious!
Don’t be afraid to be adventurous and take chances with food! I was always historically a very safe eater, and I didn’t know what I was missing out on for a long time. I’ve been 99% happy with all the food adventures I’ve taken, so I hope my experiences will inspire you to take the culinary road less traveled!
