Preparing for the winter is an opportunity to enjoy the bright taste of vegetables and fruits during the cold season. One of the leading positions in the battle for popularity among winter preparations belongs to zucchini. This vegetable goes well with any ingredients, retains its taste for a long time, and its price is attractive to consumers. The versatility of this fruit allows you to prepare many variations of dishes. A delicious zucchini appetizer for the winter can be prepared using one of the recipes below.
- Features of preparing zucchini snacks for the winter
- Ingredient Requirements
- Methods for cooking zucchini
- Simple recipe
- Spicy adjika
- Zucchini caviar
- With carrots and soy sauce
- With mayonnaise
- With tomatoes
- Zucchini like milk mushrooms
- Lecho
- In pineapple juice
- In Korean
- Fried zucchini "You'll lick your fingers"
- Delicious instant zucchini snack without sterilization
- Storage periods and rules
Features of preparing zucchini snacks for the winter
When making winter preparations, it is important to carefully prepare containers for twists:
- The container must be checked for integrity - there are no chips or cracks.
- The jars are washed with a disinfectant.
- The covers must undergo a visual inspection: there is no damage, rust, or unevenness.
Banks must be sterilized in one of the following ways:
- In the microwave, place a jar of water inside for a few minutes.
- By boiling, the bottom of the pan is covered with a cloth, where the jars are placed. The container is filled with water. Boil for 25 minutes.
- Steam - a grate is placed over boiling water, and jars are placed on top upside down. Duration - 25 min.
- In the oven. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Sterilization duration is up to 25 minutes.
The lids should also be boiled for 2 minutes.
Ingredient Requirements
To get a tasty dish, you should carefully consider the choice of ingredients. Here are some tips on how to choose zucchini:
- Both young and mature zucchini can be used. The advantage of young fruits is their thin peel, which adds piquancy to the dish, which does not need to be removed. If you use a mature vegetable, be sure to cut off the peel and use a spoon to remove the core with the seeds.
- The fruit must be strong, without visible defects, and have a green tail.
- It is better to choose green vegetables.
For the safety of your health and that of your loved ones, it is important to give preference to quality ingredients purchased from trusted sources.
Methods for cooking zucchini
The lack of a strong taste makes zucchini a unique product. Thanks to this property, you can prepare anything from the vegetable: salad, caviar, adjika, snacks, side dishes and even jams and compotes. Zucchini, like cucumbers, is pickled and salted.
Among the many available recipes, everyone will find something of their own: spicy lovers will be able to marinate the fruit in Korean, and connoisseurs of quick recipes will try various zucchini snacks.
Simple recipe
Almost all recipes for preparing zucchini for the winter are simple and do not require a lot of time and money for expensive products. Even the busiest housewives can whip up vegetables according to this recipe:
- chopped zucchini (1 kg);
- chopped tomatoes (1 kg);
- chopped carrots, onions, garlic - 1 kg of total weight, ratio of ingredients as desired;
- 10 g sunflower oil;
- salt - 10 g;
- sugar - 60 g;
- vinegar - 5 g.
All products are mixed, simmered over medium heat for one and a half hours (the time is directly related to the ripeness of the zucchini) and placed in pre-prepared jars for subsequent wrapping.
Spicy adjika
Spicy adjika is loved by many due to its bright taste properties: snack menus of many celebrations are not complete without this dish. Surprisingly, this appetizer can be made from zucchini:
- 3 kg - zucchini;
- 250 ml - vegetable oil;
- 300 g - tomato paste;
- 3 ½ tbsp. l. - salt;
- 3 tsp. - ground black pepper;
- 4 ½ tbsp. l. - vinegar;
- 2 goals - garlic;
- 2 pcs. - hot pepper;
- a bunch of greenery.
Step by step steps:
- Pass the zucchini through a meat grinder or grind in a blender, leave to brew (up to 2 hours).
- In a saucepan, mix the fruits with oil and tomato paste, add spices, salt, simmer for 1.5 hours.
- Dilute vinegar in 250 ml of water and add to the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Place in jars and screw.
Zucchini caviar
To prepare zucchini caviar, you will need ingredients available in every home:
- Carrots - 1 kg.
- Zucchini - 2 kg.
- Onions - 1 kg.
- Tomato paste - 150 g.
- Sugar - 120 g.
- Salt - 60 g.
- Sunflower oil - 200 ml.
- Table vinegar - 1 tsp.
- Water - 250 ml.
- Ground pepper to taste.
The recipe is simple:
- Cut vegetables.
- Pour oil into a cauldron or frying pan with a thick bottom and add carrots.
- Pour in water, add sugar, salt.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add onion, zucchini, pepper.
- Bring to a boil and completely soften (about 25 minutes).
- Add tomato paste and simmer for another 10 minutes, then pour in vinegar.
- Grind the finished mixture with a blender and pour into jars.
With carrots and soy sauce
To prepare one serving of zucchini and carrots marinated in soy sauce, you will need:
- 2 pcs. zucchini;
- 1 carrot;
- parsley - 1 bunch;
- vinegar - 30 g;
- soy sauce - 60 ml;
- garlic - 2 teeth;
- salt to taste;
- sugar - 10 g;
- pepper mixture;
- water - 15 ml.
Vegetables are thinly sliced, mixed with herbs and spices, and placed in a jar. Soy sauce, vinegar, water, salt, sugar are added on top. Finally, the vegetables are poured with boiling water.
With mayonnaise
You can make a winter snack with mayonnaise from zucchini. Ingredients:
- Zucchini - 4 kg.
- Onion - 500 g.
- Carrots - 500 g.
- Salt - 120 g.
- Ground black pepper - 1 pack.
- Sugar - 210 g.
- Vinegar - 3 tbsp. l.
- Sunflower oil - 250 ml.
- Mayonnaise - 250 g.
All ingredients are chopped and mixed. The vegetable mixture is placed in pre-sterilized jars and filled with sauce. Onions and carrots can be pre-sautéed in a frying pan.
With tomatoes
Ingredients (per 1 liter jar):
- Tomatoes (preferably plum-shaped, it is acceptable to use green tomatoes with thick skin) - 6 pcs.
- Zucchini - 1 large.
- Horseradish - 1 leaf.
- Dill.
- Garlic - 3 teeth.
- Hot pepper.
- Black pepper - 3 pcs.
Canned products will be tasty if the marinade is prepared correctly:
- Water - ½ l.
- Sugar - 30 g.
- Salt - 5 g.
- Vinegar - 90 ml.
The jars are first filled with horseradish, garlic, pepper, dill and tomatoes. Then zucchini is added. Vegetables should not be pressed down to avoid damage to the container in the future. Water is brought to a boil and mixed with salt and sugar. Vinegar is poured into jars first, followed by prepared water.
Zucchini like milk mushrooms
The vegetable appetizer can also replace the aromatic milk mushrooms that are loved by many. To prepare you will need:
- Zucchini - 3,000 g.
- Sunflower oil - 150 ml.
- Vinegar (table, 9%) - 200 ml.
- Sugar - 120 g.
- Salt - 40 g.
- Ground black pepper - 30 g.
- Greens (dill, parsley) - 2 bunches.
Recipe:
- Wash and cut the pre-dried greens into pieces (no more than 1.5 cm long).
- Cut the zucchini into cubes.
- Mix zucchini with herbs.
- Add chopped garlic, salt, sugar, pepper.
- Pour in oil and vinegar, mix thoroughly.
- Cover the container with a lid and leave for 4 hours. Zucchini can marinate for up to 8 hours (in the refrigerator).
- Prepare jars (preferred volume 0.5-0.75 l).
- Place the zucchini into jars. Do not compact. Add the remaining juice.
The jars are sterilized for 10-12 minutes and sealed with a lid.
Lecho
Zucchini lecho goes well with any side dish. Ingredients:
- Zucchini - 4,000 g.
- Salt - 4 tbsp. l.
- Garlic - 3 cloves.
- Bell pepper - 1,000 g.
- Tomatoes - 4,000 g.
- Sunflower oil - 150 g.
- Sugar - 100 g.
- Vinegar 9% - 100 ml.
For preparation:
- Wash and peel the vegetables.
- Chop the ingredients.
- Grind the peppers and tomatoes in a meat grinder or blender, put on fire and bring to a boil.
- Add zucchini, butter, salt and sugar, boil for half an hour.
- Add the remaining ingredients and leave on the fire for another 5-7 minutes.
- Pour the resulting mixture into pre-sterilized jars and seal with a lid.
Tomatoes can be replaced with tomato paste.
In pineapple juice
What you will need:
- Zucchini - 1 kg.
- Pineapple juice - ½ liter.
- Citric acid - 2.5 ml.
- Sugar - 150 g.
- Vanilla sugar - 10 g.
To prepare zucchini according to this unusual recipe, you will need to cut the vegetable into 2 cm thick slices, then cut out the core of the resulting pieces, turning them into rings. The sweet syrup is made by bringing a mixture of pineapple juice, sugar and citric acid to a boil. After boiling, add the vegetable to the syrup and cook for 15 minutes. The resulting mixture is poured into pre-prepared jars.
Zucchini prepared according to this recipe is perfect as a dessert and can be used in baking.
In Korean
To prepare a Korean-style zucchini appetizer you will need (per 1 kg of vegetable):
- Carrots - ½ kg.
- Onion - 1 pc.
- Tomato - 300 g.
- Garlic - 2 teeth.
- Sunflower oil - 100 ml.
- Vinegar 9% - 5 g.
- Salt, sugar - 2 tsp each.
- Seasoning for cooking carrots in Korean - 10 g.
- Greens to taste.
Zucchini must be cut into half rings, salted and left for 20 minutes, then rinsed with water. The remaining vegetables and herbs are finely chopped. Mix all ingredients and leave for 90 minutes. until the juice appears. Put on fire and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
Fried zucchini "You'll lick your fingers"
The classic finger-licking recipe requires the following ingredients:
- 1 kg of zucchini;
- 300 g tomatoes;
- 1 pod of hot pepper;
- 300 g sweet pepper;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- 1 onion;
- oil for frying;
- 1 tsp. table vinegar;
- a bunch of parsley;
- khmeli-suneli.
Cooking steps:
- Cut the zucchini into rings and fry in oil.
- Pour boiling water over the tomatoes and remove the skins. Chop with onion and pepper (hot). Add greens and chop.
- Boil the resulting mixture for 25 minutes, after adding salt, sugar and suneli hops.
- A couple of minutes before it’s ready, pour in the vinegar.
- Place fried vegetables in pre-prepared jars and pour sauce over them. To obtain a brighter taste, you can alternate layers. There should be sauce on top.
Delicious instant zucchini snack without sterilization
In the absence of sterilization, it is important that all ingredients are thoroughly washed beforehand (you can additionally rinse them with boiling water). To prepare a delicious zucchini snack “in a hurry” without sterilization, you will need to prepare the marinade separately: pour a liter of water into a deep saucepan and add pepper (10 peas, you can mix black and allspice in a ratio of 8/2), 1 ½ tsp. salt, 100 g sugar, 125 ml vinegar.
The resulting mixture must be brought to a boil.Pre-cut pieces of zucchini are dipped in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, after which they are removed and dried. The finished fruits must be distributed into jars and filled with the prepared marinade.
Storage periods and rules
If the possible shelf life of a fresh vegetable is indicated by its appearance, then with preservation everything is not so simple. The permissible shelf life of preserved zucchini depends on a number of factors: the quality of sterilization of the container, the external storage environment (air temperature, humidity, lighting), and the tightness of the lid. To preserve the results of your work for as long as possible, it is necessary to protect the jars with twists from sunlight and ensure the correct temperature conditions. Maximum permissible storage period - 24 months.