Recipe “Ankle Bens” from zucchini for the winter: 5 variations of delicious “greetings from the past”

Housewives “Ankle Bens” were invented by the housewives in the 90s. Then overseas products suddenly appeared on the recently empty store shelves, including squash and tomato sauce called “Uncle Ben’s”. Colorful jars excited minds. "Add fuel to the fire" an advertisement on TV, which in those years was also a "curiosity." Many dreamed of trying a foreign product. Sauce prices “bite”, so not everyone could afford a tasting. But “the gimmick of inventing cunning”: inventive housewives invented their own “Ankle Bens” - slices of vegetables in a gentle tomato sauce. The main ingredient was zucchini - tasty and inexpensive. A simple recipe instantly "went to the masses": almost every family began to harvest an analogue of the famous sauce for the winter.

In modern stores you can find original Uncle Ben’s products, now they are affordable. But times have changed, the hype around sauces is a thing of the past. But the housewives of the same name continue to do housewives - so the recipe was successful.

Selection of ingredients

Where does the preparation of blanks begin? From the "collection" of the ingredients. The most delicious and healthy preservation is obtained from home-made vegetables. There is no chemistry in such fruits; they are grown under natural conditions without the use of growth stimulants. But not everyone has gardens or grandmothers who are ready to supply natural products. Many housewives have to buy ingredients at the market or in the supermarket to cook the squash “Ankle Bens” for the winter.

Getting ready to make a purchase? Remember that a delicious salad is obtained only from not overripe vegetables. Young zucchini has a thin peel and soft seeds, so that the dish is tender. The “season” of zucchini is considered the middle of summer, but there are varieties that bear fruit until the first frost. You need to focus on seasonality, but remember that this is a relative concept. Choose zucchini in appearance and you will not lose.

• The size. For conservation, you need to buy medium-sized zucchini, a maximum of 15-20 cm in length. If the zucchini is too big - it is overripe and can ruin the taste of the salad.
• Appearance. Dents and indentations in the courgettes indicate that vegetables were long ago collected and stored incorrectly. Use such zucchini for preservation is not worth it, even if the markdown is attractive: they have long lost their usefulness.
• Peel. Appreciate the peel of vegetables. In not overripe zucchini, it is thin. A thick peel can not only indicate the “age” of vegetables, but also signal that zucchini was treated with chemicals.Let “thick-skinned” vegetables remain in the store - health is more important.
• Colour. Even color is one of the criteria for choosing zucchini for canning. Brown and yellow spots warn about the beginning of the process of decay inside the vegetable. Such zucchini is no longer available.

“Ankle Bens” from zucchini for the winter: prescription variations

Zucchini salad “Ankle Bens” hostesses prepare in different ways. Vegetables (carrots, sweet and bitter peppers, onions) and greens are added to the main ingredient. Vegetables can be cut arbitrarily, but pieces of the same shape (for example, cubes / squares) look more aesthetically pleasing.

To get the perfect taste, you need to pay attention to refueling. It is made from tomatoes or tomato paste and seasonings are added. You can experiment with spices: add curry, dried herbs, chili peppers. Thanks to this, the familiar taste will take on new shades. Make a delicate sauce or a savory snack - the choice is the hostess.

But you should not experiment with vinegar: increase its amount - it will be sour. Always pay attention to what vinegar is indicated in the recipe and how many percent is on the bottle. If you miss this moment, instead of the vaunted taste, you will get complete disappointment.

Classical

Features Ankle Bens is prepared from zucchini with tomatoes for the winter to diversify the menu in the season when there are no fresh vegetables. The dish turns out tasty, fragrant and reminds of summer. A workpiece is called a salad, but it is rather a thick sauce in which pieces of vegetables are “hidden”. Garlic gives a moderate "speck", but you can exclude it from the recipe, if you like conservation with a delicate taste. Salad can be served with all dishes. If you add dried Provence herbs during cooking, you will get a great pasta sauce. From the specified amount of ingredients, 4.5 liters of salad are obtained.

You will need:

• zucchini of medium size - 2 kg;
• fleshy red tomatoes - 2.5 kg;
• sweet pepper - 1 kg;
• garlic - head;
• sugar - faceted glass;
• salt - two tablespoons with a slide;
• vegetable oil - 200 ml;
• vinegar (9%) - 50 ml.

Cooking steps

1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters. Twist them with a meat grinder or use a blender.
2. Cut into medium cubes of zucchini and pepper.
3. Mix tomato puree with butter, sugar, salt. Squeeze the garlic here using a press.
4. Fold the sliced ​​zucchini in a large saucepan, pour the cooked red sauce.
5. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add chopped pepper. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.
7. Pour the vinegar and hold the salad on the stove for five minutes.
8. Arrange the vegetable mass in sterilized jars. Tighten up.

Budgetary

Features Ankle Bens from zucchini with tomato paste for the winter should be prepared for those who are looking for a budget version of the legendary salad. Pasta is cheaper than tomatoes, which are the main ingredient in the "classic". The pronounced zucchini-tomato flavor will remind one of many childhoods: every second housewife cooked an appetizer from Ankle Bens zucchini for the winter with the addition of pasta in the 90s. The sauce with a light "speck" is perfect for pasta, but also as an independent dish is also good.Following this recipe, approximately 4.5 L of preservation can be prepared.

You will need:

• medium squash - 2 kg;
• large onions - 12 bulbs;
• sweet pepper - five pieces;
• garlic - five cloves;
• sunflower oil (better refined) - faceted glass;
• purchased tomato paste - 200 g;
• sugar - a glass;
• salt - a full "with a hill" tablespoon;
• vinegar (9%) - 60 ml;
• cold water - liter.

Cooking steps

1. Prepare vegetable components: peel, chop coarsely (can be in any form).
2. Dilute the purchased pasta with water. Add butter, sugar, salt here. Bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Dip chopped zucchini in cooked red sauce. Wait for boiling, boil for ten minutes.
4. Add the remaining vegetables. Leave to stew for ten minutes.
5. Mix chopped garlic with nine percent vinegar. "Preservative" add to the pan to the rest of the ingredients. After that, keep the salad on the stove for ten minutes.
6. Distribute to sterilized containers, roll up.

Sweet and sour

Features If you like sweet and sour sauces, prepare Ankle Bens from zucchini with carrots, and add the purchased Krasnodar sauce to the dressing. The dish should have a thick consistency. If you take grated zucchini, but not chopped, you will be able to prepare a sauce that resembles a store-like one in structure. It can be served with any side dish or the main dish of vegetables, sea or river fish, and any meat. The sweet and sour taste especially sounds good in tandem with poultry meat. The amount of ingredients is calculated on 6 l of salad.

You will need:

• thin-skinned zucchini - 2 kg;
• large tomatoes - 1 kg;
• onions - 1 kg;
• sweet pepper - 600 g;
• large carrots - 500 g;
• sunflower oil - 250 ml;
• Krasnodar sauce - a half-liter jar;
• vinegar (9%) - 70 ml;
• table salt - four tablespoons;
• sugar - a glass;
• citric acid - one teaspoon;
• curry - three teaspoons;
• water - 600 ml.

Cooking steps

1. Crush zucchini with cubes, onions - in half rings, chop peppers with straws, tomatoes - randomly.
2. Grate carrots (it is better to use a grater with large perforations).
3. Boil water. Add “Krasnodar” sauce, butter, granulated sugar, seasonings to boiling water. Boil the mixture for five minutes.
4. Add zucchini to the tomato dressing. Simmer for a minimum of 12 minutes.
5. Pour the remaining vegetables into the pan. Leave to stew for ten minutes.
6. Add carrots. Boil for five minutes.
7. Pour tomatoes. Boil excess liquid. When the consistency is thick enough, add “preservatives” - vinegar and “lemon”. Hold on the stove for five minutes.
8. Distribute to sterilized containers. Screw on the covers.

For lovers of "spicy"

Features This recipe “Ankle-bens” from zucchini for the winter should be adopted by fans of “spicy.” Garlic is present in many recipes, but such sauce cannot be called spicy in the direct sense of the word - rather spicy. If you cook Ankle Bens from zucchini with the addition of chili pepper, then lovers of the “fire in your mouth” will be delighted. You can adjust the sharpness to your taste. Sour-sweet and at the same time spicy sauce will be appreciated by gourmets. It goes well with meat, but vegetarian dishes with spicy sauce will play in a new way. From the number of ingredients indicated in the recipe, 4 l of the workpiece can be prepared.

You will need:

• young zucchini - 1 kg;
• red tomatoes - the same amount;
• Bulgarian pepper (large) - seven pieces;
• medium-sized onions - five onions;
• garlic - ten cloves;
• sunflower oil - 1.5 cups;
• sugar - in proportion to oil;
• salt - two tablespoons;
• curry - a teaspoon;
• vinegar (9%) - 100 ml;
• chili - two peppers.

Cooking steps

1. Chop the washed zucchini in small squares, chop the onions into thin half rings.
2. Peel the seeds (sweet and chili) from the seeds, cut into strips.
3. Make cuts at the base of the tomatoes in the form of a cross. Dip the tomatoes in boiling water for two minutes, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to cold water, leave for a minute. Remove the skin, cut the flesh into cubes.
4. Mix refined oil, sugar, spices, vinegar. Wait for boiling.
5. Add slices of zucchini to the cooked marinade. Boil for ten minutes.
6. Add pepper, onion half rings, boil for about ten minutes.
7. Pour chopped pulp of tomatoes, simmer for ten minutes.
8. Add the garlic. Better to pass it through the press, you can finely chop. Put out two minutes. The salad is ready, it remains only to roll up.

Rice salad

Features Preservation with zucchini and rice will help the hostess out when the household asks for a snack and the refrigerator is empty. Salad is served both as an independent dish, and as a side dish for any meat. From the amount of ingredients indicated in the recipe, 4 liters of preservation are obtained.

You will need:

• zucchini of medium size - 2 kg;
• onions - 1 kg;
• carrots - the same amount;
• ripe tomatoes - 700 g;
• rice - 400 g;
• garlic - five cloves;
• sunflower oil - a standard glass;
• salt - three tablespoons (with a slide);
• sugar - five tablespoons;
• vinegar (9%) - 50 ml.

Cooking steps

1. Grind tomatoes with a blender.
2. Make a cut: onion, bell pepper - finely, zucchini - medium cubes. Carrots need a grater.
3. Put the vegetables in a deep pot, squeeze the garlic here.
4. Mix mashed tomatoes with salt and sugar. Pour in oil. Pour dressing vegetables. Cook for 30 minutes.
5. Add thoroughly washed rice. Boil as much as before.
6. Pour in the vinegar. Put out ten minutes. Roll up immediately.

5 rules for successful harvesting

In home rolls, not only taste is important. Preparing for conservation, the housewives expect that they will treat guests and households with it all winter. But it happens that the banks "explode" or the salad begins to ferment. Follow the five tips, and Ankle Bens will stand by the next harvest. Unless, of course, the stocks run out earlier through the efforts of households.

1. Wash vegetables thoroughly. Salad vegetables need to be washed not only thoroughly, but very thoroughly. Ideally, use a special brush: then the vegetables will definitely be clean. If you plan to add spicy greens to the salad, rinse it under running water for at least eight minutes. Purity of vegetables is the key to long-term storage of lettuce.
2. Sterilize jars and lids. Unfold the blank only in sterilized containers, use exclusively sterile lids. Otherwise, microbes can get into the jar, as a result - the salad will “explode” or ferment. The most popular sterilization method is to “cook” cans and lids in water (five minutes after boiling). True, it is relevant only if there are few containers, and they are small. You can sterilize the jars by steam: put the wire rack on the pan with water, on top - the jars, hold for 15 minutes after boiling the water. You can calcine washed, not dried cans and lids in the oven (temperature - 120 ° C, time - before drying).
3. Turn the cans over. After seaming the salad, the cans are turned over and left to cool.This simple manipulation allows you to verify the tightness of the lid. After cooling, make sure that no wet spots remain under preservation. Without a tight fit of the lid, long-term storage is impossible: the salad will ferment.
4. Cover. Conservation is recommended to be wrapped in a blanket and kept under it until it cools. Thanks to wrapping, the contents of the can slowly lose temperature, there is an additional "canning". This increases the safety of the salad.
5. Store correctly. An ideal place to store blanks is the cellar. In such conditions, they can stay for two years. In a city apartment, preservation should be stored in a cool dark place, for example, in a pantry. True, the shelf life in this case will be reduced - you need to eat salad for the autumn-winter season. Balcony is not the best place to store twists: freezing worsens the quality of the product.

Ankle Bens salad from zucchini for the winter must be prepared with vinegar, which plays the role of a safe preservative. Uncle Ben’s sauce can be prepared on the same day. Take any recipe, remove vinegar from it, and delight loved ones with a delicious dish.

Who cooks: reviews

Loved the taste. Well, just VERY delicious. The only thing I didn’t really like was the crispy onion and its distinctive taste. My husband did not like it either. Therefore, last year I modified the recipe a bit, after having sweat the onions until soft. Why such a name? It recalls the taste of the previously sold lecho Ankle Bens. I don’t know if it’s currently on sale or not.

Mirage, http://forumodessa.com/showthread.php?t=19260

With vinegar it turns out very sour, tomato paste and tomatoes give acid, and also vinegar, I made this salad for the first time and I did not like it due to excess acid, I tasted delicious without vinegar!

Svetlana http://recept-menu.ru/salat-iz-kabachkov-ankl-bens/

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