This recipe came to me from my father. Back in the day when I was a kid, it was custom to preserve as many fresh vegetables and fruits as you can, because we did not have such products in shops back then. Therefore we were marinating and preserving everything, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbages, peppers, zucchinis and so on.
One of the ways to preserve zucchinis was to make a so called “squash caviar”. It a bright and delicious kind of spread.
In this recipe I have used Bosch MSM 6B700 Hand Blender, you can find a similar product here.
Below is the full, step-by-step recipe with pictures.
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Squash Caviar
Equipment
- Hand blender
- Large pot
- 2 medium frying pans
Ingredients
- 1½ kg zucchini, peeled and chopped
- 400 grams carrots, peeled and chopped
- 400 grams onion, peeled and chopped
- 120-150 grams tomato paste
- 1-2 tablespoons sugar
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- paprika, to taste
Instructions
- Wash, peel and roughly chop the zucchinis. I kept the seeds, but you can remove them if you wish or if they are really big.Place the chopped zucchinis into a large pot, add about ½ cup of water to the bottom of the pot and place over medium heat.
- Peel and roughly chop the onions.
- Peel and roughly chop the carrots. You can grind them as well if you wish.
- Heat up a bit of vegetable oil in 2 frying pans over medium heat. Add the chopped carrots to one pan and onions to the other pan and fry for about 3-4 minutes, or until onion is becoming translucent.
- Add the fried carrots and onion to the pot with the zucchini, cover with a lid and simmer, on low heat, for about 1 hour.
- After one hour has passed, add the spices (sugar, salt, pepper, paprika) to the zucchinis. Gently stir through, cover with a lid and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- After the 10 minutes have passed, add the tomato paste, but do not mix it in. Cover with a lid and simmer for another 20 minutes.
- For preservation, you first need to sterilize the jars and lids that you plan to use.Bring a large pot filled with water to boil. Carefully lower the jars and lids into the boiling water and boil them for about 10 minutes.Keep the jars in the hot water until needed.
- When the mixture finished cooking, mix through with tomato paste and take off the heat.If making for preservation, add 2-3 tablespoons of 9% white vinegar at the end of cooking and mix through.
- Using a hand blender blend the mixture until your desired liking. I like mine smooth, so I blended it really well. If you like chunky spreads, you can blend it just a bit and keep it chunky.
- For preservation: Carefully take out the hot jar from water, place it on a towel and pour in the hot zucchini mixture, filling the jar all the way to the rim. Cover tightly with a hot lid, flip upside down and place on a towel to cool down. I just keep them covered with a towel overnight and then move them to a cool, dry, dark place, like a pantry or a storage room.
- If you are not planning to make a preserve out of this, then just wait until cools down to room temperature, and it is ready to be eaten. Keep refrigerated in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.
Nutritional Facts:
Calories: 388 kcal, Total Fat: 1.9 grams, Saturated Fat: 0.4 grams, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 2038 mg, Total Carbohydrate: 89.7 grams, Dietary Fiber: 20.5 grams, Total Sugars: 52.4 grams, Protein: 16.2 grams, Vitamin D: 0 mcg, Calcium: 252 mg, Iron: 6 mg, Potassium: 3657 mg
Serving size: 1 kg, Servings: 2
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