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At the height of summer, zucchini can be found in any garden, since this vegetable is amazingly unpretentious, and grows quite quickly. Therefore, the question of what you can cook delicious from zucchini arises at this time with all its severity.
Many will probably agree that zucchini caviar is one of the most versatile in use and uncomplicated in the technique of cooking. Well, let alone her taste! Best of all, the taste of the zucchini themselves is almost neutral, but it is an excellent background for a mixture of various vegetables, herbs and spices. Do not forget about the benefits of zucchini caviar. After all, most of the nutrients that zucchini are rightfully proud of are preserved when processed at high temperatures.
Even squash caviar in a pan is quite capable of preserving many vitamins and especially minerals that are beneficial to health. And in terms of taste, vegetables fried in a pan cannot be compared with boiled and even baked in the oven. Below will be described several options for cooking zucchini caviar in a pan with photographs illustrating the process.
The first, easiest recipe
This recipe for squash caviar is universal and the easiest to make, although caviar from it turns out to be uniquely tasty.
A recipe with a photo of the roots used will help you surprise your family and friends with the unique taste of such a long-known and familiar dish as caviar from zucchini.
Main ingredients
When looking for the main components, you need to keep in mind that many of them are interchangeable. And although you can feel the most piquant taste of squash caviar only if you follow the recipe closely, if you cannot find all the ingredients, do not be discouraged.
Some of the white roots are completely replaced by the increased content of carrots and onions, and add herbs and seasonings that you and your family like.
- Zucchini peeled from the skin and seeds - 2 kg;
- Tomatoes - 0.8 kg;
- Carrots - 0.4 kg;
- Onions (you can also take leeks) - 0.3 kg;
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White roots (parsnip, parsley root, celery root, oat root) - 0.2 kg;
- Vegetable oil - 70 ml;
- Spices (ground black and allspice, ground ginger, cumin (cumin), turmeric);
- Greens (parsley, dill, coriander, celery).
That is, zucchini, if possible, should be peeled and seeds removed if they are ripe enough. Neither the skin nor the seeds will interfere with young zucchini during the cooking process.
Carrots and all white roots must be thoroughly washed and peeled with a knife or peeler.
The onion is peeled in a standard way from all unnecessary shells covering it.
It is customary to peel tomatoes before cooking. The easiest way is to cut them with a sharp knife crosswise in several places and scald them with boiling water. After that, the skin is easily removed.
The greens are simply washed thoroughly and freed from dirt, wilted and yellowing parts.
Cooking secrets
Zucchini, onions and tomatoes are cut into small pieces or cubes, no more than 1-1.5 cm in size. Carrots and roots are easiest to grate or chop using any kitchen tool you have available.
Novice cooks often have a question: "How to fry vegetables for caviar so that they turn out delicious, appetizing and do not burn?" There are several secrets here, and the first of them is that only overheated oil is used for frying.
Products fried in overheated oil do not have an unpleasant aftertaste and their use does not adversely affect digestion.
The second secret is the strict order in which the vegetables are placed in the pan.
So, to get overheated oil, you need to pour any vegetable oil into the pan with a layer about half a centimeter thick and, making medium heat, heat it up so that it does not boil for at least 3-4 minutes. When a faint white smoke appears over the pan, you can start the toasting procedure.
According to this recipe for cooking squash caviar, all vegetables are sequentially added to the pan and the first step is to fry the onions. Alone, he languishes for a very short time - literally in 3-4 minutes it is necessary to add carrots and white roots to it. If you have calcined the oil correctly, then you do not need to add it. Roots with carrots and onions are fried for another 5-6 minutes, after which zucchini, chopped into pieces, is added to them.
Simmer with regular stirring, preferably for 10 minutes, at the end chopped tomatoes are added to the caviar, as well as salt and sugar to taste. After another 5 minutes, finely chopped herbs and spices can be added to the caviar. Mixing well, simmer for another 5-8 minutes, depending on the amount of liquid in the vegetable mass. Then cover with a lid and let it brew for the same amount of time.
If you want to get traditional zucchini caviar, then after the dish has cooled down a little, you can grind it with a hand blender. If you prefer caviar in pieces, then the dish can be laid out in vases and enjoy its unique taste.
Second, original recipe
This way of preparing the same dish is a little more laborious, but the resulting flavor of zucchini caviar will surely exceed your expectations. All ingredients and their amount by weight remain the same, only one to two tablespoons of wheat flour is added.
All vegetables for cooking zucchini caviar in a pan can be cut into cubes, grated or chopped in a food processor. The main highlight of this cooking method is that chopped vegetables, including tomatoes, (except for herbs and spices) are fried in hot oil in splendid isolation. After frying (they acquire a pleasant yellow-golden color), each ingredient is transferred to a separate vessel and set aside.
At the last stage, all fried vegetables are mixed in one pan with a thick bottom, sugar, salt, seasonings and finely chopped herbs are added to them. After the final dissolution of the seasonings in the caviar, which usually takes about five minutes, fried flour is gently poured into the pan and thoroughly mixed again while heating for 3-4 minutes. The dish can be eaten both hot and cold. Namely, the fried flour gives the zucchini caviar a peculiar creamy taste.
Try to cook zucchini caviar according to one of the proposed options, and you will want to return to these recipes over and over again, since their unique taste cannot be forgotten.
