Zucchini jam

“Amber jam”, “royal”, “pineapple” – as only zucchini jam is not called. It looks delicious – a mountain of golden slices oozing with honey juice. It smells intoxicating – orange and lemon. And the taste is impossible to describe: sweet, pleasantly refreshing, with a delicate sourness, melts in your mouth.

How zucchini jam was invented

In the history of Russia, you can find the predecessor of this dish – cucumbers boiled in honey. According to chronicles, we know that Ivan the Terrible was a great fan of such jam. And even later, the delicacy was often served to the table of nobles and tsars.

On a side note! Our ancestors under jam meant a dish of fruits and berries, which was obtained by boiling the products 7-10 times in the oven. That is a completely natural dietary confit or marmalade. Only for the nobility prepared jam from cucumbers and nuts, adding honey or molasses.

Zucchini appeared in Russia only in the middle of the 19th century: the vegetable was imported either from Turkey or Greece. The unpretentious crop was quickly appreciated in the south and began to be actively cultivated. At some point, it was noticed that the structure and consistency of zucchini is much more suitable for jam than cucumbers.

Well, and the modern form of jam took and quite recently, when sugar became an affordable product.

Store “royal” jam in a dark cool place. When the jar is opened, put it in the refrigerator.

Zucchini jam with lemon

Citric acid is an essential component of any jam. Without it, the dish acquires a cloying sweetness, especially when they want to make the syrup thicker, and boil the jam longer. However, you can bring “acid” in another way – by adding lemon.

And since you can add one fruit, you can add another. The results of the experiments delight sweet-toothed people of all ages.

Let’s spread it out on the desktop:

• 1 kg of zucchini;
• 1 lemon;
• 1 kg of sugar.

In this jam you can additionally add 1 orange, without peel and seeds. It is cut into cubes and added together with lemon. It will give the dish an amber color.

You have to cook it like this:

• Peel zucchini from seeds and skin (unless it’s super young), cut into small slices.
• Cut the lemons into slices, remove the seeds. Leave the zest. If desired, you can squeeze the lemon juice and add the grated zest together with it, if the slices of fruit are irritating.
• Put the cut vegetables and sugar in a saucepan, stir, and let stand for about 30-40 minutes. Then, when the juice is released, bring to the boil.
• After 15 minutes add lemon. Boil for another 15-20 minutes and pour into sterile jars.
• Roll up, turn the jars upside down and wrap with a warm cloth (for example, a baby blanket).

Zucchini jam with ginger

Ginger root in jams, jellies and jams plays the role of a natural preservative. It also has a healing effect: a royal delicacy becomes an excellent remedy for colds.

Needed:

• 1 kg of zucchini;
• 1 lemon;
• 1 orange;
• ginger root – 80-100 gr;
• 1 kg of sugar.

Here we go:

• Grate ginger root along with peeled orange and lemon.
• All other ingredients are chopped, pour into a saucepan, then add half the sugar and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes.
• Add the ginger-citrus mix and simmer for another 20-30 minutes.
• Pack hot into dry sterilized jars. Corked. After cooling, store in a cool place.

Zucchini with lemon and apricots

For 1 kg of zucchini you need 150 g apricots and 1 lemon.

Action Algorithm:

• Pour hot water over dried apricots for 15 minutes. When they soften, drain the water and squeeze the dried fruit with hands.
• Grind zucchini and apricots in a meat grinder or blender. Transfer to a saucepan – the juice should never be drained.
• Add sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook on low power, stirring constantly for 40 minutes.
• 15 minutes before the end of cooking squeeze a lemon into the pot, then grate the zest and add it to the jam too.
• After a quarter of an hour, hot jam is distributed on the packing containers and glass, corked and, covered with a warm cloth, wait for cooling.