And why does truffle oil taste so good? In, like, every application? A pea-parsley purée really made the flavor come out, with a lovely touch of umami. But wait 'til you get half-way through this post... The secret goodness was the best part.

I blanched the peas for about 30 seconds and shocked them in ice water to stop the cooking and keep them bright green.

Then I plucked parsley leaves, washed them, blanched them for about 15 seconds, shocked them in ice water, and then wrung the daylights out of the parsley in a length of cheesecloth.

To purée the components, I used some regular olive oil and a decent amount of water to get the two to combine, using a hand-held immersion blender. To adjust the seasoning, I added a bit of salt, black pepper, and about a tablespoon of white truffle oil.

It was this idea -- the pea-parsley purée -- that prompted me to make this pie, which included: a few braised balsamic onions, leeks melted in brown butter, a handful of peas and sweet corn cooked very briefly.

But wait, there's more!

It was on another trip to the farmer's market when I spied a mountain of beautiful squash blossoms. They were $1 a bag (!) for about a dozen. What popped into my mind was: let's stuff those beauties with goat cheese... And to make them even more delicious, let's fry them! So I did.

First, I washed the blossoms, plucked the stamen out of the center, and stuffed the blossom with one heaping tablespoon of a blend of goat cheese and ricotta, minced parsley, and chives. Pulling the stamen out of the blossom meant tearing one, but that's not a big deal; once the blossom is stuffed, twisted, and dipped into tempura batter, they worked flawlessly.

I topped the pie with the fried squash blossoms, supported by a small pile of dressed baby arugula, and drizzled the pea-parsley purée on top.

There's going to be fried squash blossoms of some sort on the Red Apron menu... Perhaps an appetizer? Or maybe a mountain of them? Because DAMN those are GOOD.