Squash Blossom soup
In Mexico, squash blossoms are for sale by the pound ! Almost every market
sports a neatly mounded pyramid, or several, of vibrant yellow, fragrant
flowers of both summer and winter squash, flors de calabaza, as they
are generically called.
Recipe Categories : | Mexican
| Pumpkin | Soups
| MAIN INDEX |
Serves : 4 - 6
Ingredients :
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium white onion, chopped into ¼" dice
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 tspn dried marjoram leaves
- 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeded, finely chopped
- ¾ lb squash blossom, coarsely chopped
- 4 - 6 small zucchini or other summer squash, halved lengthwise
- 1 small jalapeño chili, stemmed and thinly shredded
- ½ tspn salt
- 8 cups vegetable
stock
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
Preparation and Cooking Instructions :
- Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic,
and marjoram and sauté gently until barely wilted, about 1 minute.
Stir in the tomatoes and cook gently until they begin to soften, about
1 minute. Stir in the squash blossoms and sauté until wilted,
about 2 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, jalapeño, salt, and stock and bring to the
boil. Simmer until the vegetable are barely soft, about 10 minutes.
Stir in the cilantro and serve right away.
- Cooks note : Ideally, only the male squash flowers, which do
not develop fruit, are selected for cooking - the male blossom has a
narrow stem; the female has a bulge at the base which eventually becomes
the squash - but you can pick the female blossoms, too, if you are willing
to sacrifice the squash itself. To prepare squash blossoms, simply rinse
them, shake them dry, and chop or shred them, along with their stems.
Though butter is not an ordinary ingredient in a mexican soup, it is
used here to enhance the delicacy of the squash blossom, which would
be overwhelmed by olive oil.
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