Name: Zucchini with Apples for Winter
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Ukrainian cuisine
Ingredients: 2 kg zucchini; 1 kg carrots; 1 kg onions; 1 kg tomatoes; 0.5 kg Antonovka apples; parsley; dill; bay leaf; peppercorns; 3 tas salt; 3 tas sugar; 2 cup vegetable oil (1.5-2 cups); 3 tas 70% vinegar

Zucchini on its own is nearly flavorless, so in this winter appetizer the real work is done by Antonovka apples — a firm, sharply tart Eastern European variety (a Granny Smith is the closest supermarket stand-in). As everything simmers, the apples release a delicate fruity acidity that offsets the sweetness of the carrots and onions, landing the dish somewhere between a salad and a thick vegetable ragout.

Antonovka is chosen deliberately: its dense flesh holds its shape through the half-hour of cooking instead of collapsing into puree the way soft dessert apples do. Any tart, firm late-season apple will do the same job.

A few things worth knowing

The vinegar is a concentrated 70% essence, so add it carefully and only at the very end to keep the aroma rather than just the sourness.
Use meaty, low-juice tomatoes; watery ones leave the preserve too loose.
Cut every vegetable to roughly the same dice so they cook at the same rate.

Serve it cold alongside boiled potatoes, kasha, or meat.

Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 288 more recipes in the section.