Homemade zucchini caviar
8 servings
45 minutes
Homemade zucchini caviar is a refined dish of Russian cuisine, easy to prepare and surprisingly delicious. Its roots go back to the Soviet past when housewives tried to create appetizing snacks from available vegetables. Tender with a slight tang from tomato paste and lemon juice, it harmoniously combines with the aroma of garlic, bay leaves, and fresh herbs. This caviar has a velvety texture and is perfect as an independent snack or side dish. It is especially tasty with black or multigrain bread lightly toasted in a toaster. Thanks to the lemon juice, it keeps well, remaining rich and fresh for several days. Homemade zucchini caviar is not just food but cozy memories of warm family evenings when the aroma of stewed vegetables filled the kitchen while the hostess lovingly prepared something simple yet infinitely delicious.
1
Peel the zucchini and seeds, and cut into cubes.
- Zucchini: 800 g
2
Peel the onion, garlic, and carrot. Chop the onion finely, grate the carrot. Mince the garlic.
- Onion: 50 g
- Carrot: 50 g
- Garlic: 1 clove
3
In a heated pot or thick-walled cauldron, pour in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add the zucchini, and fry/simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked. If it starts to burn, add a little water or vegetable broth.
- Vegetable oil: 3 tablespoons
- Zucchini: 800 g
4
In a separate pan, sauté the onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, then after 5 minutes, add the carrot and sauté until ready, then add the tomato paste, bay leaf, herbs, and other spices. Leave it for a while while the zucchini cooks.
- Vegetable oil: 3 tablespoons
- Onion: 50 g
- Garlic: 1 clove
- Carrot: 50 g
- Tomato paste: 2 tablespoons
- Bay leaf: 1 piece
- Green: to taste
5
When the zucchini is ready, add sautéed onions and carrots, lemon juice, and mix. Then puree everything with a blender or pass it through a fine meat grinder. First, remove the bay leaf; when the caviar reaches a homogeneous consistency, you can add the bay leaf back in. After that, you can leave the caviar in the pot and cover it with a lid to let all the ingredients blend together.
- Onion: 50 g
- Carrot: 50 g
- Lemon juice: 1 teaspoon
- Bay leaf: 1 piece
6
I really love this caviar with black or multigrain bread, toasted in a toaster. If you're concerned about vegetable oil and want to make the dish completely diet-friendly, just grease the dish with a drop of vegetable oil, and when you add the vegetables, add a little water. I usually make a double or triple batch at once. I divide it into containers and send it to the fridge; thanks to lemon juice, the caviar can be stored in the fridge for a while, but we eat it up within a week at most.