Eggplant and Zucchini Ikra

Add a Vegan Ukrainian Appetizer to Your Thanksgiving Table

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only $24 a year and you get a complimentary copy of my BURNT BASQUE CHEESECAKE RECIPE ZINE.

---

Eggplant and Zucchini Ikra (Ikra z baklazhaniv i kabachkiv), a cousin of French ratatouille or Italian ciambotta, is a medley of vegetables cooked over low heat and finished with lots of garlic. The dish is seriously a flavor bomb and gets better with each day it sits in the fridge. The flavors continue to mingle and intensify. If you love garlicky, tomatoey, and earthy flavors, you need to try it. Did I mention it’s vegan!

The dish can be a dip or a spread making it the perfect finger food especially if you want to add more diverse flavors or more vegan/vegetarian dishes to your table this holiday season. Traditionally this is served with sliced sourdough, but this spread works on so many things. If you have leftovers, it is great to add as a spread in your post-holiday leftover sandwiches and melts! (Y’all do this too, right?) My partner loves it on his potato and onion hash. Blitzing it into a paste allows you to use it for sauces.

Best of all this dish can be prepared days ahead of time and serving it takes no more than 10 minutes, you just need to cut up some sourdough bread, give it a quick toast, and spread the ikra on each slice. That’s it! Or you can just serve it as a dip with little pieces of toast or crackers on the side. So if you are looking for a recipe to impress your guests, give this recipe a try!

Some additional good news, the majority of the work is in the prep. Yes, you do need to cut and shred/grate a lot of vegetables, but that’s honestly it. Everything else comes together pretty seamlessly. Just patience and a little bit of time. The dish needs to be cooked slowly over low heat to concentrate the flavors and break down the vegetables.

My mom learned this recipe from my grandmother, but has made it her own over the years. It is a super versatile dish that invites its cook to experiment and throw in new ingredients. So don’t be afraid to play around with ingredients by adding and substituting your own preferred vegetables. If you have a lot of eggplant or zucchini on hand, you can make the spread using only eggplant or only zucchini, but my favorite version is the combination of both. You can also start playing around with different spices. My mom’s version centers the flavors of the vegetables, but you can add paprika, Aleppo pepper, gochugaru, cumin, etc. The possibilities are endless. I personally think this recipe is perfect but I can also see how this dish is a canvas for endless versions and interpretations.

CAN’T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE’S VERSIONS!

---

Tools:

• Large saucepan

• Spatula or wooden spoon

• Box Grater

• Microplane or garlic press

• Jar with a lid

Ingredient List:

• 8 tablespoons good quality olive oil, divided

• 1.5 cups finely diced onion, 1 large onion (225 grams)

• 2 ½ cups peeled and grated eggplant, 1 large eggplant (350 grams)

• 4 cups shredded zucchini, 3 medium zucchini (560 grams)

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 ½ cups tomato juice, divided

• 1 ½ cups stemmed, cored, and shredded red bell pepper, 1 large red bell pepper (200 grams)

• 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

• 6 to 10 garlic cloves

To Serve:

• Slices of sourdough

• olive oil

• dill, parsley, or cilantro

• hard boiled eggs (optional)

---

Method:

1. For the spread: Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, add onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

2. While the onion is cooking, prep and grate the eggplant. Once the onion is soft, add the grated eggplant, zucchini, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and bay leaves to the pan, give everything a good stir until everything is incorporated, about 2 minutes. Now add 1 cup of tomato juice and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until all the moisture has evaporated and the vegetables have softened slightly.

3. Now add the shredded red bell pepper (discard the skin), salt, pepper, and the remaining 1½ cups of tomato juice to the saucepan, and continue to cook stirring occasionally for an additional hour to an hour and half or until you have a dark brown, soft, and thickened mixture.

   1. If you notice that the vegetables are scorching at the bottom of the pan make sure to turn down the heat, the goal here is to slowly cook down the vegetables without burning them.

4. Once you have reached the desired consistency, turn off heat, and using a microplane or garlic press add garlic directly to the mixture, stir with a spatula, and leave on the stove to cool for 30 minutes to an hour uncovered.

5. Transfer the mixture to a clean jar or container, now pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to cover the top of the spread, we want to make sure the top is completely covered by oil. Let cool completely before storing it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

6. To serve: Remove the spread from the fridge and give it a good mix. Meanwhile, cut up a loaf of sourdough into even thin slices, cut each slice into 3 inch long pieces of bread. Brush a little bit of oil on top of each slice and lightly toast the bread on a hot skillet. Spread two heaping tablespoons of the eggplant and zucchini ikra on each slice, and garnish with a pinch of dill, parsley, or cilantro. Serve on a large platter as an appetizer.

   1. Lazier Serving Option: Serve in a bowl as a dip with an extra drizzle of good quality olive oil and garnished with herbs. Serve with a side of toasted sourdough slices, hard boiled eggs, or crackers!