Sicilian Sundays: Ricotta Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

My second week here in Sicily has been much more about settling into a routine over exploring, and it’s a good thing.

I keep forgetting that I live here, and am getting behind on normal things like laundry and dishes. These things aren’t fun, but they give me more time to feel like I’m actually getting stuff done.

I started work on Monday, so Paul and I have been going to our local Pasticceria every morning for cappuccinos and a pastry. It is very cheap here. Pastries are only 1 Euro, and they’re huge! We’ve tried various croissants, donut-type things with vanilla and chocolate crème, and sooooo many sweet ricotta filled delicacies (both of the pictures below are filled with ricotta and chocolate).

We feel so lucky to be here, and are taking advantage of this special place across the street as much as we can. It’s a family owned business, and the girls there know our morning order will always be “due cappuccini, per favore“!

On the weekends is where we branch out of Palermo to other places in Sicily. This weekend we went to Cefalù (slightly to the right of Palermo on the map below) by train to see the beautiful beaches and to hike up the famous “La Rocca”, which features a castle built in the 6th Century.

Map photo cred: Propertyworld.com

Our other tradition is going to the Ballarò market on the weekends. I shared a few photos of it in my last post, which clearly show the amazing variety this market has to offer.

Meat, cheese, olives, wine, in season vegetables, clothes and CD’s (not sure if this is legal), sweets, and a lot of street food (what Palermo is famous for) is just some of what you can find at Ballarò. It’s amazing in the true sense of the word.

The star of our recent trip to the Ballaro market were definitely the Zucchini blossoms, which I bought a GIANT handful of for 1 Euro.

Honestly, these could be squash blossoms, but since there weren’t any signs out in front of the bucket and since I didn’t see any squash nearby, we’re just going to assume.

This recipe for stuffed zucchini blossoms is a Sicilian classic.

I kept it simple, really, stuffing the flowers with fresh ricotta, shaved parmesan, garlic and red pepper flakes and frying them up in small batches. We enjoyed these so much, and will definitely be making them again!

Happy Sunday everyone 🙂