Spicy Zucchini for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make spicy zucchini for winter? Gather your ingredients. Which zucchini works best? Choose young ones with tender skin. Wash and peel them — if the skin is very thin, you don't have to peel it. If you're using more mature zucchini, cut off the tough skin and scoop out the seedy core.

2. Step 2:

   

   Everything except the zucchini gets ground together in a food processor. Wash and dry them first. Cut up the tomatoes, removing the stem ends.

3. Step 3:

   

   Seed the bell pepper and cut it into pieces. Peel a few garlic cloves, and use as much hot pepper as you like — for more heat, leave the seeds in.

4. Step 4:

   

   Put the tomatoes in the food processor first and pulse them to the texture you want — I run it on low speed so the vegetables keep some texture. You can purée them smooth instead, if you prefer.

5. Step 5:

   

   Transfer them to a pot for simmering.

6. Step 6:

   

   Then pulse the rest of the vegetables, again to the texture you like, and add them to the tomatoes. Set the pot over low heat and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't stick to the bottom.

7. Step 7:

   

   Meanwhile, cut the zucchini into long sticks. Mine is young, so I cut it seeds and all.

8. Step 8:

   

   Add the salt to the vegetable mixture.

9. Step 9:

   

   Then the sugar, the sunflower oil, and the vinegar at the very end (though the order doesn't really matter here). Simmer everything together for another 20 minutes.

10. Step 10:

    

    Add the zucchini and cook everything together another 10–15 minutes. The zucchini should be tender but still hold together.

11. Step 11:

    

    Ladle the boiling-hot mixture into sterilized jars and seal with boiled lids.

12. Step 12:

    

    Turn the jars upside down, wrap them in a warm blanket, and leave them until completely cooled.