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At the height of summer, zucchini can be found in any garden, since this vegetable is incredibly unpretentious and grows quite quickly. Therefore, the question of what can be cooked deliciously from zucchini arises at this time with all its severity.
Many will probably agree that zucchini caviar is one of the most versatile dishes to use and simplest to prepare. Well, what about her taste! What’s most remarkable is that the taste of the zucchini itself is almost neutral, but it is an excellent background for a mixture of various vegetables, herbs and spices. Don’t forget about the benefits of zucchini caviar. After all, most of the beneficial substances that zucchini is rightfully proud of are preserved when processed at high temperatures.
Even squash caviar in a frying pan is quite capable of preserving many vitamins and especially minerals that are beneficial to health. And the taste of vegetables fried in a frying pan cannot be compared with boiled or even baked in the oven. Below we will describe several options for preparing zucchini caviar in a frying pan with photographs illustrating the process.
The first, simplest recipe
This recipe for squash caviar is universal and the easiest to make, although the 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 zucchini caviar.
Main Ingredients
When searching for the main components, you need to take into account that many of them are interchangeable. And although you can experience the most piquant taste of squash caviar only if you strictly follow the recipe, if you cannot find all the ingredients, do not be discouraged.
Some of the white roots are completely replaced by an increased content of carrots and onions, and add greens and seasonings that you and your family like.
- Peeled and seeded zucchini – 2 kg;
- Tomatoes – 0.8 kg;
- Carrots – 0.4 kg;
- Onions (you can also take leeks) – 0.3 kg;
- 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 seeded 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 vegetable peeler.
The onion is cleaned in the standard way from all unnecessary shells covering it.
It is customary to remove the skin from 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 this, 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 larger than 1 -1.5 cm. Carrots and roots are easiest to grate or chop using any kitchen utensil that you have.
Novice cooks often have a question: “How to fry vegetables for caviar so that they turn out tasty, appetizing and do not burn?” There are several secrets here, and the first of them is that only hot oil is used for frying.
Foods fried in hot oil do not have an unpleasant aftertaste and their consumption does not adversely affect digestion.
The second secret is the strict order in which the vegetables are placed in the pan.
So, to get superheated oil, you need to pour any vegetable oil into a frying pan in a layer about half a centimeter thick and turn the heat to medium, heat it so that it does not boil for at least 3-4 minutes. When a barely noticeable white smoke appears above the pan, you can begin the frying procedure.
According to this recipe for making squash caviar, all the vegetables are sequentially added to the frying pan and the first thing you need to do is fry the onion. Alone, it does not languish for very long - literally after 3-4 minutes you need to add carrots and white roots to it. If you have calcined the oil correctly, then you do not need to add it.The roots with carrots and onions are fried for another 5-6 minutes, after which chopped zucchini 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, you can add finely chopped herbs and seasonings to the caviar. Stirring 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 a little, you can grind it using an immersion blender. If you prefer caviar in pieces, then the dish can be placed in vases and enjoy its unique taste.
Second, original recipe
This version of preparing the same dish is a little more labor-intensive, but the resulting taste of zucchini caviar will certainly exceed all your expectations. All ingredients and their quantity by weight remain the same, only one or two tablespoons of wheat flour are added.
All vegetables for preparing zucchini caviar in a frying pan can be cut into cubes, simply grated or chopped in a food processor. The main highlight of this cooking method is that chopped vegetables, including tomatoes (except for herbs and seasonings) are fried in hot oil in splendid isolation. After frying (they acquire a pleasant yellow-golden color), each ingredient is transferred to a separate bowl and set aside.
At the last stage, all fried vegetables are mixed in one frying pan with a thick bottom, sugar, salt, seasonings and finely chopped herbs are added to them. After the seasonings are completely dissolved in the caviar, which usually takes about five minutes, the fried flour is carefully poured into the frying pan and thoroughly mixed again while heating for 3-4 minutes. The dish can be eaten both hot and cold. It is the fried flour that gives the zucchini caviar a unique creamy taste.
Try to prepare squash caviar according to one of the proposed options, and you will want to return to these recipes again and again, since their unique taste cannot be forgotten.
