Place the flowers in a large bowl of cold water (enough to cover them) in order to clean them and remove any green stems. Drain and dry the blossoms. In a bowl, mix together the rice, onion, parsley, mint, basil, tomatoes, pine nuts, pepper, 1/4 cup (60 mL) olive oil, salt and cinnamon.

Using a spoon, stuff each flower with about 1 tsp (5 mL) of the mixture, just up to the rim where the blossom opens up so that it fills the opening of the blossom, leaving a bit of room for the rice to expand (otherwise the blossoms will break). Fold the ends of the petals inward to cover the stuffing.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil on the bottom of a large saucepan. Arrange the flowers in a circular pattern so that they’re touching side by side with petals facing out. Once the bottom of the pot is covered, start the second row on top of the first, exactly the same way. It is preferable to use a large pot so that there is only one row of flowers, but two rows is okay as well.

Once finished arranging the flowers, place a large plate on top of the flowers then pour in the water—it should come up to about half the height of the top row of zucchini flowers. Ensure you add the water after you place the plate on top of the flowers, otherwise the flowers will float to the top. The plate will remain on top of the blossoms for the whole cooking time. Add more water if necessary. Place the saucepan on the stove over medium heat and cover the pot with a lid. Once the liquid begins to boil, turn the heat down to simmer. Cook for about 20 to 25 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed, leaving a small space between the lid and the pot for the last 5 minutes.