"Mother-in-law's language" is a traditional spicy appetizer loved by many housewives. The variety of options for preparing such a spin for the winter is really impressive, since it can be cooked from almost any vegetables - for example, eggplant, zucchini or even cucumbers. At first glance, it may seem that the recipes for preparing this spicy appetizer are almost identical, although in fact each of them is somewhat different, and all the twists taste different. In the presented recipe I propose to prepare three types of the most popular preservation "Mother-in-law's tongue" from zucchini: a classic recipe (with tomatoes), with the addition of tomato paste and a spicy appetizer in the form of caviar. Choose the option that appeals to you best, and start canning as soon as possible to replenish your strategic reserves of spins!
The classic recipe for Mother-in-law's tongue
Ingredients
- Tomatoes - 750 g
- Sweet pepper - 2 pieces
- Zucchini - 750 g
- Hot pepper - 1 pc (or chili pepper)
- Garlic - 1 pc (large head)
- Vegetable oil - 60 ml
- Vinegar - 25 ml (9%)
- Salt - 2-3 tsp
- Granulated sugar - 2-4 tsp.
Preparation
- For this version of the "Mother-in-law" we need just young, firm zucchini (preferably with a thin skin). I rinse the zucchini thoroughly, then cut it into thin slices, trying to cut it as thin as possible (very small fruits can be cut into thin strips lengthwise, so they will look even more like tongues in a jar).
- The rest of the vegetables are also good for me, for sweet pepper - I remove the stalk with seeds (for hot pepper, for a more spicy dish, you can not remove the seeds, this is optional). I cut the tomatoes into several parts (you can leave the skin on) and grind them together with the pepper in a meat grinder.
- Pour the resulting vegetable mass into a saucepan (choose dishes such that the tomato does not burn in it), put it on the fire and, stirring the ground tomatoes with pepper, bring the mass to a boil.
- Next, I put thinly sliced zucchini in the resulting mixture, gently mix them. At first glance, it may seem that the tomato is not enough, since the zucchini are not completely covered with the vegetable mass, do not worry, during the stewing process, there will be more liquid.
- Then I add salt, sugar and vegetable oil to the vegetables, mix and cook again, be sure to over low heat (it is not necessary to cover the pan or bowl with a lid), for about 30 minutes. When cooking vegetables, do not forget to stir the zucchini from time to time so that the appetizer is stewed evenly, and the tomato does not burn.
- After half an hour (the zucchini should just change their color and become softer) I add chopped garlic to them and pour in 9% vinegar, mix well. Be sure to taste the cooked tomato sauce (based on your taste preferences, add salt or sugar if necessary).
- After that, I boil "Mother-in-law's tongue" in a hot sauce for about 5 - 7 minutes, and carefully put it on pre-washed and sterilized jars.
- Then I roll them up, wrap them up and leave them like that, after which (when they cool down) I put them in storage in the basement. Such a spicy, sweet and sour appetizer in the form of tongues with tomatoes will be appreciated by lovers of savory dishes!
- Enjoy your meal!
Mother-in-law's tongue with tomato paste
Ingredients
- Zucchini - 750 g
- Bitter pepper - 1 piece
- Tomato paste - 1.5 tbsp l.
- Garlic - 1 pc (large head)
- Granulated sugar - 60 g
- Salt - 0.5 tbsp. l.
- Vinegar - 60 ml (9%)
- Vegetable oil - 125 ml
- Sweet pepper - 125 g
Preparation
- I rinse the bell peppers (if available - red, if not - any other) and rinse the hot pepper, remove the seeds with the stalk (for the pungency of the dish, the seeds can not be removed from the hot pepper) and grind.
- Next, I spread the resulting ground mass of peppers into a saucepan, add the necessary ingredients to it (salt, sugar, tomato paste and vegetable oil), mix everything thoroughly until smooth (you need to stir well so that there are no lumps), after which I put it on fire and bring to a boil (sugar and salt should dissolve completely).
- In the meantime, zucchini (for this type of preparation it is not necessary to take the youngest ones, both small fruits and larger ones can do) mine, cut off their tails and cut them into large pieces or slices. In general, choose the method of cutting at your discretion, based on the size of the vegetables.
- I spread the sliced zucchini to the tomato paste, gently mix everything so that the vegetables are covered with tomato, cover the pan with a lid (necessarily!) And put it on simmer for about 40 - 45 minutes, stirring the vegetables from time to time.
- Taste the dish and adjust the amount of missing ingredients if necessary (add, for example, salt or sugar). When the zucchini becomes soft (the main thing is not to overcook the vegetables, otherwise they will turn into a solid viscous vegetable mass), change their color, and the amount of liquid becomes twice as much (approximately 35 - 40 minutes after the preparation boils), pour vinegar into them ...
- Then I boil the "Mother-in-law's language" for another 5 - 7 minutes, and turn off the stove, then I spread the workpiece hot over the prepared jars (they must first be well washed and sterilized).
- Then I seal all the cans with boiled lids (or roll them up), turn them over and leave them in this position until they cool completely (it is advisable to dig up the cans with something warm).
- I always put the cooled preservation in a cool place for storage. Remember that the shelf life of such a workpiece is up to two to three years (when using homemade vegetable oil, no more than a year). The "Mother-in-law's tongue" appetizer prepared according to this recipe is spicy, with a rich tomato flavor and garlic aroma.
Mother-in-law tongue in the form of caviar
Ingredients
- Zucchini - 750 g
- Carrots - 1 pc
- Garlic - 25 g
- Ground red pepper - 1 tsp.
- Tomato sauce - 125 ml
- Granulated sugar - 60 g
- Salt - 0.5 tbsp. l.
- Vegetable oil - 60 ml
- Vinegar - 60 ml (9%)
Preparation
- First of all, I chop the peeled and washed garlic cloves and carrots.
- In the dishes (a saucepan or aluminum bowl), in which the snack will be stewed, I pour in vegetable oil (it is advisable to still take refined oil for preservation), I add salt and sugar, as well as ground red pepper (you can adjust the amount of pepper yourself if you like it sharper) - add slightly more than indicated). Further - I thoroughly stir everything and bring the mass to a boil so that the bulk ingredients are completely dissolved.
- Then I put the ground garlic with carrots in a saucepan and mix.
- Then I pour in the tomato sauce. Choose the sauce at your discretion. For those who like spicy dishes, you can take a spicy sauce, for example, chili or Georgian, and for those who like slightly spicy dishes, tomato or Krasnodar sauce is perfect.
- For this version of "Mother-in-law's tongue", large zucchini are just suitable, I also rinse them under water (for slightly overripe fruits - I peel the skin and take out the pulp with seeds), cut into small cubes. To get caviar, homogeneous in consistency, at the end of cooking vegetables should be chopped with a blender. But if you don't like this option, the zucchini can simply be cut into small cubes so that they can boil easily.
- Pour the sliced zucchini to the tomato sauce, stir and simmer the carcass over low heat (with the lid open) for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After the allotted time - I add 9% vinegar to the appetizer, mix again and boil for another 5 minutes.
- Next, I grind the zucchini-tomato mixture to a homogeneous mass using a submersible blender. Do not be alarmed, the workpiece will slightly change its color when grinding. If you want to make the color of the caviar a little brighter, you can add half a tablespoon of tomato paste to it. I boil the resulting zucchini mass over low heat, stirring constantly, for another 3 - 5 minutes.
- Then I pour it into pre-sterilized jars and roll it up.
- Of course, I turn over the jars with spicy appetizers in the form of caviar, when they cool down - I put them in the basement for storage (the shelf life of conservation is up to two years). The prepared appetizer "Mother-in-law's language" in the form of caviar is a wonderful original version of a familiar dish.
- Such a spin is good, firstly, because for its preparation you can use large zucchini, which are not quite suitable for the traditional "Mother-in-law's tongue", and secondly, this spicy tomato-zucchini caviar can easily replace the usual sauces and ketchups, becoming an excellent and unusual addition to meat dishes.