The perfect summer meal!

I recently did a cooking demonstration at the Mill City Farmer’s Market, showing the crowd how to cook stuffed squash blossoms. The number of people who told me that they had no idea that you could even eat squash blossoms convinced me that it’s time to talk about edible flowers. Edible flowers are the easiest way to elevate a dish from everyday to extra special.

A few days later, I went to a pizza party at one of my favorite places, Urban Roots, where talented Chef Jametta Raspberry was hosting a popup. The young people in the Urban Roots programs had harvested vegetables, made pizza dough, and were making a beautiful pizza with nasturtiums on top. I knew it was a sign. I had to make an edible flower topped pizza.

Edible Flowers Add Excitement

Edible flowers seem to mystify people. Maybe we didn’t grow up eating them, or just forget about them in between sightings. Flowers are fragile, so you don’t see them in restaurants that often. Perhaps an orchid in a Margarita, or a few rose petals on a dessert, but that’s it. The squash blossom is occasionally stuffed for a special of the day, if a chef has the flexibility to buy a basket of them and put it on the menu before they fade.

I grow nasturtiums in my window box every year, because I love the way they look, trailing over the edge of the box. Then I have a handy source of edible flowers and leaves, to pick and toss on salads, cupcakes, or this pizza.

Dining in my garden…

I also grow Bachelors buttons and small Sunflowers, to use in summer meals. Chives and most edible herbs also have edible flowers. Pansies, Violets, Calendula and Marigolds, Impatiens, Gladiolus, Bee Balm, Roses, and some Orchids are spectacular in this recipe. I added squash blossoms, cut into strips. When using squash blossoms or other flowers with a big central calyx and stamens, use the petals only.

Look for edible flowers by the fresh herbs at your grocery store, at the Farmer’s Market, or grow them yourself. Only use organic, unsprayed ones, and make sure that they are edible. Don’t pick them on roadsides or in parks. If you have allergies to flowers, avoid eating them.

Pizza on the Grill with Edible Flowers

So, the only trick is to make a pizza with a schmear of fresh pesto and then top it later. Just make the crust, toss it on the grill, then as soon as it is firm enough to turn, flip it, spread with pesto and sprinkle with roasted tomatoes, and close the grill to finish the baking. Once it’s cooked through, top with edible flowers, and you have it.

It looks like the food of fairies, doesn’t it?