When mid spring rolls around, my hunt is on for big, beautiful squash blossoms. Don’t blink! Because of their short shelf life, their short season, and extremely delicate handling, these blooms are very parishable and can disappear early in the season.
I love soups. I specially love creamy Mexican soups. On top of my list right along with crema de champiñon, cream of potato and cream of chile poblano is this cream of squash blossom soup.
This year, I got lucky because I was able to find them at Melissa’s Produce, neatly packed as if they were just picked. They arrived fresh and I felt so special when I received them because… well, what girl doesn’t like flowers delivered to her?
I admired their beauty for just a bit but then I immediatly snapped out of it, put my apron on and got ready to cook. Since squash blossoms are very light and airy, they wilt and shrivel when cooked so you would need a large amount to prepare soup for 4.
Ingredients
- 60 squash blossoms
- 5 cups water
- 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup table cream
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Remove blooms' stems and sepals, leaving just the petals and pistils to work with.
- Boil water and add flowers. Let them boil for 1 minute, pushing flowers down into boiling water with a spoon (they tend to float).
- Remove from heat, drain and immediately place them in iced water. Drain, chop and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, heat butter. Add onion and squash blossoms and cook for 3 minutes. Add flour and stir until flour lightly browns.
- Add chicken stock, let boil, then add table cream. Cook for 5 minutes. Add salt and remove from heat.
- Blend in a blender on medium-high speed and strain.
- Keep warm and serve in soup bowls.
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