Fresh Vegetable Spread
This is a vegetable spread built from vegetables fried one at a time and only briefly, not simmered down to a smooth puree. Zucchini, sweet pepper, tomatoes, and onion each cook for just as long as they need, so the finished appetizer has distinct little pieces rather than one uniform mass. Taste as you go: the tomatoes bring acidity, and the pinch of sugar at the end is there to balance it, not to sweeten.
The one step that makes it work
Don’t dump everything into the pan together. The onion goes first and is taken almost to golden, because it sets the base of the flavor; then zucchini, then pepper, and only last the tomatoes with the dill, which need the least time. Add them all at once and the onion stays raw while the tomatoes collapse into water.
The base is easy to swap: use eggplant, beet, or carrot in place of the zucchini, with the same method. For more heat, toss in a chopped garlic clove a minute before the stewing ends. Serve it chilled on a slice of bread, alongside porridge or meat, or seal it into jars for winter.
Part of Eastern European cuisine — 35 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Heat a skillet and pour in the oil.
Fry the finely chopped vegetables one after another: onion, zucchini, pepper, then tomatoes with the herbs. Fry lightly; only the onion should be nearly golden.
Combine all the vegetables in the skillet, add salt and a little sugar.
Stew everything together for about another 10 minutes.
Chill and serve.
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