Despite purists' complaints, most restaurants now offer less offal-heavy options: fiori di zucca (fried squash blossoms), olive ascolane (olives stuffed and fried), frittelle di baccalà (salt cod fritters) and mozzarelline fritte (fried mozzarella balls). During the summers, markets in Rome abound with baskets of orange and green zucchini flowers. Restaurants and home cooks buy bags of them and either fry them or serve them sauteed in olive oil over a bed of pasta.

Although other regions in Italy stuff zucchini flowers with ricotta or cured meat, Roman-style fiori di zucca are always made with a lone anchovy and a small bit of mozzarella. Once filled, they get dipped in a yeasty batter and fried -- preferably in vegetable or light (not extra virgin) olive oil.

Wash the zucchini blossoms and gently pat them dry with a paper towel; remove the tough and spiny base of the flower. Be careful -- it can be prickly and stick to your fingers.  Then, place a thin sliver of mozzarella in each flower and, if you want, one small anchovy. Do not to over-stuff.  Cheese melts during frying but we want it inside the blossom and not oozing out.  Set aside the filled blossoms. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs (yolks and whites) with a fork. Bit by bit, sift the flour in, stirring constantly to avoid clumps.  Once your pastella is the consistency of thick pancake batter, add the beer and whisk.  Dip the flowers in batter, letting any extra pastella drip off.