Zucchini Caviar with Tomato Paste and Onions for Winter
A tasty, silky, low-calorie spread for the whole family. This zucchini caviar (a soft, savory vegetable spread) put up with tomato paste is a godsend for anyone who likes to stock the pantry during vegetable season. If you like, round out the flavor at the end of cooking with a little hot red pepper or crushed garlic.
Cooking method
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Step 1:
How do you make zucchini caviar with tomato paste? Gather the zucchini, carrots, onions, vegetable oil, salt, sugar, ground black pepper, 5% (distilled white) vinegar, and tomato paste. You might think less vinegar would do—and you can use less. But I can't promise it will keep as long that way.
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Step 2:
Wash the zucchini, peel them, and if they're overripe, scoop out the tough seeds too. Cut the flesh into small cubes. Wash, peel, and coarsely grate the carrots. Peel and finely chop the onions. Pour the vegetable oil into a large pot and add the chopped zucchini, carrots, and onions.
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Step 3:
Simmer the vegetables over medium heat for one hour. The zucchini will release plenty of liquid; if there's too much, cook it down—just extend the simmering time as needed. The less liquid left, the thicker your caviar will be.
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Step 4:
Blend the softened vegetables into a smooth purée with an immersion blender. Add the salt, sugar, ground black pepper, and tomato paste. Stir to combine.
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Step 5:
Gently bring the caviar to a boil, stirring often—it likes to sputter. Stir in the vinegar, let it bubble a moment longer, then ladle it into sterilized jars.
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Step 6:
Zucchini preserves are notorious for spoiling if under-processed, so it's worth giving the filled jars an extra water-bath. Line the bottom of a pot with a towel, set the jars inside, rest their sterile lids on top, and add water up to the jars' shoulders. Bring to a gentle boil and process pint (0.5-liter) jars for 10–15 minutes.
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Step 7:
Seal the jars with the sterile lids, turn them upside down, and let them cool completely under a warm towel or blanket. Enjoy!
- To make sure your summer canning keeps you happy all through the cold months, it's worth brushing up on the basic rules and tricks of putting food up for winter.
- If you're using very young zucchini, you can leave the tender skin on. And instead of dicing the vegetables (zucchini, carrots, onions), you can run them through a meat grinder and cook them that way.
- Before sealing the jars, taste the caviar and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Onion - 41 kcal/100g
- Zucchini - 23 kcal/100g
- Carrots - 33 kcal/100g
- Dried carrots - 275 kcal/100g
- Boiled carrots - 25 kcal/100g
- Ground black pepper - 255 kcal/100g
- Granulated sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Sugar - 398 kcal/100g
- Wine vinegar (3%) - 9 kcal/100g
- Vinegar 9% - 11 kcal/100g
- Balsamic vinegar - 88 kcal/100g
- Apple cider vinegar - 14 kcal/100g
- Vinegar - 11 kcal/100g
- Vegetable oil - 873 kcal/100g
- Tomato paste - 28 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
