Zucchini Jam with Lemon and Orange Juice and Zest

Young squash is a unique vegetable. Due to the mild taste and juiciness of zucchini, you can cook from them not only vegetable dishes and snacks but also desserts – you can add them to baked goods and even make jam from them. Zucchini jam turns out to be thick, moderately sweet, with a delicate taste and aroma of citrus fruits. This jam can be used in pies and puffs, applied to toast, and added to savory cereals.

Summary

Ingredients

• Zucchini (young) – 1.8 kg
• Orange – 200 (1 pc.)
• Lemon – 150 g (1 pc.)
• Sugar – 700 g

Instructions

1. It is better to use young zucchini, in this case, you do not need to peel the vegetables from seeds – you just need to peel off the peel thinly and cut off the stalk.
2. Grind vegetables in any convenient way – in a meat grinder or blender. The smaller the zucchini, the more homogeneous and tastier the finished jam will be.
3. From 1.8 kg of zucchini, I got 1.5 kg of zucchini mass. Transfer the squash puree to a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
4. Add sugar to the saucepan. Put the saucepan on the fire and bring the puree to a boil. Cook over low heat for 20 minutes, slightly opening the lid (the puree will sprinkle).
5. Use a knife to thinly peel the zest from the orange and lemon. Try not to cut off the white part – it will add bitterness to the jam.

   

6. Squeeze the juice out of the orange and lemon. It will turn out to be about 150-180 ml.
7. In a bowl, combine the juice and cut zest, beat them with an immersion blender into a liquid homogeneous puree.
8. Add citrus puree to boiling jam pot, bring to a boil. Evaporate the liquid over low heat, stirring occasionally, for one and a half to two hours.
9. The squash-citrus jam has thickened and evaporated by about a third – it can be poured into sterilized jars.
10. To sterilize, place a pot with 1 liter of water on a fire and boil the water. Put the lids of the jars in the pan, and place the jars over the pan on the wire rack with the neck down and keep them for a couple of 10-15 minutes.
11. Carefully remove the sterilized jars and lids on a clean towel.
12. Pour the jam into jars and tighten the lids tightly.
13. I managed to fill 2 jars of 314 ml and 2 jars of 450 ml – a total of 1528 ml of delicious thick zucchini-citrus jam. Place the jars upside down, cover until they cool completely.

Enjoy your meal!