squash blossoms

My husband had a pumpkin from last Halloween composting in our small side garden. The result was we had a huge pumpkin plant growing with large leaves, plenty of blossoms, but no sign of pumpkins. My husband picked some blossoms and I decided I would fill them and fry them up for supper one evening.
 
The only and I time that I have had these, the person just dredged the blossoms in a loose batter and deep fried them. However, I had a small amount of ricotta in the refrigerator so I got the idea to fill them. I searched bonappétit.com and found a recipe for ricotta stuffed squash blossoms. I had just enough ricotta left and had fresh chives growing in a container, but decided not to add the mozzarella that the recipe called for.

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It was a quick and easy recipe to make. It was a bit challenging trying to fill the blossoms as I didn't use a piping bag. Nevertheless, I accomplished the task and fried the blossoms to a beautiful golden brown. I must say, they were delicious. They were very light and the chives gave it a great flavor. This was a different type of side dish. So if you are growing any sort of squash in your garden and you won't mind a few less squash, try making stuffed squash blossoms. I haven't priced them lately, but I do believe they are over $5/lb. if you can find them in a food store. I know that Delicious Orchards carries them.