Tempura kamokamo flowers with goats' cheese and tomato salsa

Michael Craig

Kamokamo are part of the squash family, like a really overgrown courgette. They sprout like weeds in Maketu and are on the table at almost every dinner we have in summer. We love to stuff the flowers. Here, we filled them with a smooth goats’ cheese mousse and battered them till they were deliciously crisp. We serve it with a fresh salsa dip to cut through the decadent cheesy filling.

Kamokamo

8	Kamokamo flowers, or courgette flowers (Main)
½ cup	Goat's cheese (Main)
1 cup	Whipped cream
1 tsp	Lemon zest

Tomato salsa

2	Tomatoes, deseeded and chopped (Main)
1 clove	Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp	Basil pesto
1 Tbsp	Olive oil

Tempura batter

2 cups	Vegetable oil, for deep frying
1 cup	Flour, sifted
1 tsp	Salt
1 tsp	Baking powder
1 cup	Sparkling water, ice cold

Directions

1. Wash and dry the flowers, making sure there are no bugs inside. Set aside.
2. To make the goats' cheese filling, soften the cheese by mixing then carefully fold into the whipped cream and add the lemon zest. Put the mix into a piping bag and set aside.
3. To make the tomato salsa, mix together all of the ingredients and season to taste.
4. Heat the oil to 180C in a deep frying pan. While the oil is heating, mix together the dry ingredients for the tempura batter and quickly whisk in the sparkling water to form a thin batter. It is okay to have some lumps in it.
5. Dip the kamokamo or courgette flowers in the batter to evenly coat. Fry in the oil on both sides until crisp, this should only take about 2 minutes for each side. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel.
6. Once cooled, slightly open the flower up and pipe some of the goats' cheese into the middle of each flower. Serve with the salsa