Texas Locavore

In Rome, my husband tells me, there are places called rusticerria, counters that sell pizza by the kilo. They all carry one in the summer that’s topped with white cheese and zucchini blossoms. Here, you’re more likely to find the blossoms sealed up in a quesadilla, stuffed and deep-fried, or sautéed into risotto. The buds themselves are the male flowers from a variety of squash plants. (The female flowers have bulbous bottoms that foreshadow the fruits we’re used to eating.) Starting now through at least mid-summer, you can find them around Texas at high-end grocery stores and at farmers’ markets. The one above came from Montesino Farms in Wimberly via Greenling’s Local Box. The flavor is mild, but distinctively reminiscent of the squash it produces. We haven’t decided yet if we’ll stuff it with goat cheese from the farmers’ market (an easy hors d’oeuvre guaranteed to wow dinner guests) or try Homesick Texan’s alluring recipe for squash-blossom quesadillas. The good news is we’ve got a long Texas summer to experiment!