Holy Week Cooking

So we all know that Catholics don't eat a meat on Good Friday so for our lunch, I made some stuffed cabbage flowers :) They were all tender and gooey inside because of the cheese. If you want to make them, I'll write down the recipe here :)

Ingredients:
2 bunches of Squash leaves and flowers (you can't buy an all flower bunch in the market)
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 C of cubed cheddar or any salty cheese
1/2 C of cubed mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup of chopped olives and/or capers
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 C olive oil
and some hot chicken stock or broth

1. Rinse the squash leaves and flowers. Carefully separate the flower heads from their stems and put them in a bowl of water. Refrigerate them for 30 minutes so they'll fully open and "bloom." Once the flowers have "bloomed" enough to be handled, remove the pistils/stamens carefully without damaging the flower petals.

Choose the larger squash leaves and leave around 3 inches of the stem. Discard the smaller leaves. (or cook them ginataan)

2. In a pot, heat the chicken stock or broth and boil the squash leaves only until they are malleable enough to   maintain their shapes when folded.

3. In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients except for the olive oil. Carefully stuff the flowers with the mixture and close the petals on top to secure the stuffing. For the leaves, put a teaspoon or tablespoon (depending on the size of the leaf) in the middle and fol the leaves as if you are making a small envelope... that's left flap first, then right, top, then bottom. Use the remaining stem to "tie" the envelope so it wouldn't open when the leaves are being cooked.

4. Arrange the stuffed leaves and flowers in a pan and cover them with olive oil. Place them in an oven for 30 minutes until the flowers have become tender but not burnt.

This makes around 40 pieces.