Zucchini Butter (Кабачковая Икра)

What does your childhood taste like? Mine tastes like sweet Zucchini on top of toasty bread.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know what zucchini looks like until I came to the States. Either it was a deficit in Soviet Moldova, like pretty much anything else at the time, or simply not grown. 

My Zucchini came in a jar, as a thick sweet paste. Think pasta sauce consistency. Mom usually served them on a side of meat or on a piece of stale bread, toasted to unrecognition. Zucchini Caviar, the name for this canned vegetable delicacy, was one of my favorite treats.

The version I am sharing with you yields a slightly runnier zucchini concoction. I recommend using it as a sauce over Zoodles or even as Gazpacho. You can thicken it by adding a few carrots or one sweet potato but the result will be much sweeter in flavor.

Zucchini Butter (Кабачковая Икра)

For Zucchini, use green, yellow, or both. You won’t taste any difference but will notice a slight color change.

Do NOT add water or you will end up with a Zucchini soup :)

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Avocado Oil
• 1 large Onion, diced
• 4-5 Zucchini, diced
• 1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp Paprika
• 1.5 tsp Sea Salt
• 1.5 tsp Black Pepper

Directions

1. Sautee the onions in oil, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, either in the Instapot or on a stove. 
2. Mix onions with the rest of the ingredients in the Instapot. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 10 minutes. Perform a quick release when the pot beeps.
3. Transfer to a blender and pulse until the consistency resembles chunky tomato pasta sauce.
4. Enjoy warm or cold. Can (but won’t :) last in the fridge for 5 days.

Wine pairing

I recommend a bottle of clean and crisp Sauvignon Blanc to help balance the flavors of the summer vegetables in this delicious summer goodness. Use this link for $25 off your first purchase.