Remember the good old days, when boiled potatoes were served with all sorts of delicious “winter” salads stored in the cellar? Now, at any time of the year, you can go and buy any vegetables and fruits, but then our mothers and grandmothers diligently packed summer gifts from their own gardens into jars for the winter.
In addition to pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, almost every housewife considered it her duty to make good supplies of sweet bell peppers, and lecho was her favorite recipe.
There are many, many variations of this amazing dish. And every housewife always had some little tricks that distinguished her signature recipe from all others.
Some people are still diligently sterilizing their truly beloved folk salad, while others have improved it and now enjoy the good old lecho in a new way.
The most delicious recipe has always been the simplest bell pepper recipe, which our grandmothers made. In fact, it does not require a huge amount of spices and ingredients to prepare, but when you smear the delicate juice from the plate with a piece of bread, you are ready to lick your fingers.
2. Pour the tomato mass into a clean, large, deep saucepan.
3. Remove the seed pods from the washed peppers and cut the juicy pulp into stripes, about 8 pieces from each fruit.
Send the slices to the tomato sauce.
4. Heat to a boil over medium heat, pour in the oil and add salt and sugar. Mix everything and let it cook well for half an hour, remembering to stir periodically.
By this time, the pepper will no longer crunch like fresh, but will still retain its elasticity.
5. Chop the peeled garlic cloves and add to the tomato pepper mixture.
Cook for another 5 minutes, then turn off the heat, pour in the vinegar essence and stir well so that the acid is evenly distributed into the lecho.
6. Immediately place the still boiling winter salad in and, after rolling it up, wrap them upside down for a day.
To be on the safe side, many people send the filled jars to be sterilized for another 10 minutes before sealing, but this is at the discretion of the housewife.
After the jars have cooled completely, store them in a dark place where it is not very hot.
In general, there are quite a lot of delicious recipes for homemade lecho. For example, I found my colleague in this article on a culinary blog and highly recommend that you pay attention to them.
Recipe for lecho from bell pepper and tomato without sterilization
Not everyone likes a large amount of sunflower oil in winter preparation, as well as tomato seeds in lecho, and therefore prefers to remove them during the cooking process. This can be done using a juicer, but if you don’t have one at hand, then a regular sieve will do.
How to do this - see the recipe.
We will need:
- Red tomato – 2 kg.
- Garlic clove – 4 pcs.
- Sweet pepper – 1.2 kg.
- Granulated sugar – 6 tbsp. l.
- 6% vinegar – 2 tbsp. l.
- Sunflower oil – 1 tbsp. l.
- Salt – 2 tsp.
- Hot pepper pod – 1 pc.
- Fresh basil – ½ bunch.
Preparation:
1. Divide thoroughly washed ripe tomatoes into quarters to make them easier to chop into a juice-like state.
2. Place the tomato slices in a blender. You can also pick basil leaves directly with your hands. Grind thoroughly until smooth.
3. To get rid of seeds and pieces of skin, rub the tomato mass through a sieve. Pour a portion of crushed tomatoes into it and use a spoon, masher or culinary spatula to “squeeze out” the pure juice with rubbing movements, and throw out the remaining “husks”.
In order not to use a lot of unnecessary dishes, you can wipe them directly into the pan in which you will then cook. Immediately send the resulting mass to cook over medium heat. and cook for a quarter of an hour while constantly skimming.
4. In order not to oversalt or overdo it with sugar, take measuring spoons in advance and, filling them without a slide, measure out the required amount of sugar and salt.
5. While the tomato juice is boiling, cut the washed and peeled sweet pepper into slices. It is enough to divide it into quarters, but you can also make thinner strips.
6. Place the pepper slices in the tomato juice and simmer for another 10 minutes.
7. If you like a very spicy taste, then the hot pepper should be chopped as finely as possible.
If not, then it is best not to chop it, but toss it straight into the pan as a whole pod, and before pouring the lecho into jars, remove it from the pan and throw it away. Grind the garlic cloves with a press and add to the previous ingredients.
8. Pour in oil and vinegar and add salt and sugar. Mix well, being careful not to break the pepper slices. Cook for 5 minutes.
9. Immediately put into sterile jars, roll up and, covering with a warm blanket, allow to cool upside down. You can store it in a cellar or in a dark, cool pantry.
In winter, opening and eating such a jar is always a pleasure!
Lecho with tomato paste from 3 kg of bell pepper
Initially, lecho was a Hungarian canning and was prepared only from fresh tomatoes. But now many people don’t want to bother with them for a long time, or there is a bad year for tomatoes, or they are not sweet and tasty enough, so many housewives resort to a little trick - using ready-made tomato paste.
We will need:
- Bell pepper – 3 kg.
- Boiled water – 2 l.
- Tomato paste – 0.9 kg.
- Garlic clove – 6 pcs.
- Sunflower oil, 9% vinegar – 6 tbsp. l.
- Sugar - 4.5 tbsp. l.
- Salt - 3 tsp.
- Hot pepper pod - 2 pcs.
- Allspice peas, ground black pepper, cloves, coriander - to taste.
Preparation:
1. Before starting cooking, you should pay attention to the composition of tomato paste by reading the information on the packaging. Ideally, there should be nothing there except tomatoes.
If you see salt and sugar, then the amount of adding them to the salad costs about a third less.
Dilute tomato paste with water depending on its thickness. If it is liquid, then 1:2, if it is very thick, then 1:3. The tomato sauce should be of medium thickness so that the cloves and peas do not drown in it.
Spices can be added immediately, but do not overdo it, because the more of them in the cooking sauce, the stronger the specific aroma in the finished dish.
If you don’t like the spices you come across, it’s better to put them in a small cotton bag or a small square, the edges of which are tied with a long thread. Tie a thread to the handle of the pan, and dip the “lump” with spices into the sauce and pull it out only after cooking.
2. Place the pan over medium heat to boil, and at this time cut the peeled sweet peppers into oblong pieces.
3. Once the tomato sauce boils, add the chopped peppers and let it boil. Gradually the strips will be immersed in the red liquid and will cook evenly.
Try to remove the foam immediately so that thickened lumps do not appear, which will later look unsightly in the finished dish.
4. Add salt, sugar and sunflower oil and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Grind the garlic cloves and hot pepper and place in a saucepan. Pour vinegar there and cook for another 7 minutes.
6. Place the boiling salad in sterile dry jars, roll up and wrap. After cooling, you can store it in any cool place.
The finished dish is bright, rich in color, aromatic and incredibly tasty.
The most delicious lecho for the winter
Do you know that Bulgarians use apple cider vinegar instead of ordinary vinegar essence in a traditional recipe? It also contains only vegetables and spices, and absolutely no oil!
It seems to me that this is truly the most delicious option, because the vegetables are filled with each other’s aromas and a touch of piquancy is given to them by a set of spices that are usually used in making homemade ketchup.
We will need:
- Sweet red tomatoes – 3 kg.
- Sweet pepper – 3 kg.
- Sugar - 80 gr.
- Salt - 40 gr.
- Allspice peas, black peppercorns, cloves – 5 pcs.
- 6% apple cider vinegar - 1.5 tbsp. l.
Preparation:
1. Wash fresh tomatoes and, after drying them, clean them of “butts” and any defects on the skin. Grind in any convenient way to a puree and place in a thick-bottomed pan to cook over medium heat. Cook for a quarter of an hour.
2. As soon as the puree starts to boil, try to immediately remove the foam and stir periodically so that the tomatoes do not separate or burn.
3. While the tomato puree is being prepared, cut the pre-washed and peeled peppers into wide strips. To make the salad as beautiful as possible, I recommend using multi-colored pods.
4. Grind the spices into powder or tie them in a bag with a long thread.
5. Add pepper pieces to the boiling tomato puree and let it boil, stirring occasionally so that the whole mass of vegetables is combined.
6. Omit the spices, add salt and sugar and mix. After 10 minutes, pour in apple cider vinegar and let simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes.
7. Then pour into sterile prepared jars and roll up, wrap until completely cool.
Tasty, satisfying and beautiful! What else do you need for an appetizing dish?
Video on how to prepare delicious lecho from bell peppers with vegetables
We shot this video specifically for this article. And we hope you like it. After all, making a blank for it is very, very simple. I would even say it's as simple as shelling pears.
You just need to cut everything and cook it in two stages. Then simply screw the lids on the jars.
However, see for yourself.
It's that simple. But despite the fact that there seems to be nothing complicated in preparation, this in no way detracts from all the advantages of this recipe.
I can tell you from experience, after opening such a jar, it is eaten in one sitting. And everyone, without exception, who tries and eats it, likes the preparation. And I hope you like it too.
How to prepare lecho for the winter from peppers, carrots and onions
My family really likes lecho with carrots and onions. It is prepared on the basis of a traditional recipe - there is no need to invent anything additional.
Unless fresh tomatoes are replaced with thick tomato paste to speed up the process. The highlight of this recipe is that the vegetables are pre-sautéed, and the bay leaves add piquancy.
We will need:
- Bell pepper – 1.2 kg.
- Carrots, onions – 0.2 kg each.
- Tomato paste – 0.3 kg.
- Sunflower oil – 5 tbsp. l.
- Garlic clove – 2 pcs.
- Hot pepper pod, bay leaf - 1 pc.
- 9% vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.
- Ground black pepper - to taste.
Preparation:
1. Rinse and peel all vegetables well. Cut the onion into strips or in the shape of half rings. Carrots can be chopped into strips, but it will look much more original if you make oblong strips out of them using a regular vegetable peeler.
2. Pour 2 tbsp into the pan. l. oil and when it heats up over medium heat, sauté the onion and carrot slices for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
The vegetables should become slightly soft, but in no case fried.
3. While the previous ingredients are simmering in the frying pan, quickly cut the peppers into strips and add them to the slightly softened vegetables in the frying pan.
4. Close the lid and simmer for 10 minutes. During this time, the pepper will become softer, but will retain its elasticity. This sauteing will add “satisfaction” to the finished dish.
The main thing is not to forget to stir periodically so that nothing burns and the heat treatment occurs evenly.
5. Now it’s the turn of tomato paste. Place it in a convenient container and dilute it with water until it becomes a semi-thick sauce. I usually take a very thick paste, so I dilute it in a ratio of 1:3.
Add salt, sugar and season with ground pepper. Stir and our liquid lecho base is ready.
6. Pour the tomato sauce into a deep saucepan.
Send sautéed vegetables, chopped garlic cloves and pieces of hot pepper there (you can use it as a whole pod, and then throw it away in a storage container before bottling).
And a laurel leaf will complete our culinary magic.
7. Place the pan over medium heat and let it boil. Cook with occasional stirring for 10 minutes.
Pour in vinegar and stir. After a couple of minutes, taste for salt and sugar. If it’s a little lacking according to your taste, add it.
Place the boiling dish in a sterile dry container, screw the lids on tightly and leave to cool upside down, wrapped in a warm blanket.
Ready-made lecho is ideal for boiled potatoes. It can also be served as a side dish on its own.
Grandma very often used this winter salad as a sauce when preparing cabbage rolls - believe it or not, the taste is completely different and much richer than with fresh vegetables for filling.
Any boiled or fried meat becomes much juicier and more appetizing with lecho. And if you’re really too lazy to cook, you can easily have a snack with just a couple of pieces of fresh bread.
Bon appetit and enjoying the Bulgarian winter evenings!
Publication date: 09/30/2017
I gave recipes for lecho for the winter in the previous article. Of course, somewhat different from these. The article is called - finger-licking bell pepper lecho for the winter. Take a look and you can choose what you like best.
A lot can be said about lecho. In many nations, a vegetable salad prepared in a special way is called lecho. Even here they say, we will do treatment. Well, that's right. Lecho is just that, lecho. Let's look at how we'll cook.
How to prepare lecho for the winter. Lecho from bell peppers and tomatoes recipes for the winter
It’s quite simple to prepare a delicious lecho from bell peppers for the winter, with various vegetables and seasonings. Read the recipes below, watch them, cook them. Good luck!
1. Lecho made from peppers and tomatoes, with the addition of hot peppers
Ingredients:
From these ingredients the yield is 5 liters.
- Unpeeled sweet bell pepper - 3 kg.
- Onions - 1.5 kg.
- Red tomatoes - 1.5 kg.
- Hot pepper - 3 pcs.
- Sugar - 1 glass
- Refined sunflower oil - 1 cup
- Vinegar - floor. glasses
- Salt - 2 tbsp. l.
Preparation:
1. Wash peppers, tomatoes and hot peppers and let dry or pat dry with paper towels.
2. Cut out the stem of the tomatoes and cut them into large pieces. We also cut off the stem of the hot pepper. We pass the tomatoes and hot peppers through a meat grinder. We do not cut out the seeds from hot peppers. Pour the grated tomatoes and hot peppers into the bowl in which we will cook the lecho. In a basin or pan, whoever has what.
3. Peel the sweet pepper from the stalk, seeds and partitions and cut each half into 4 parts, directly to the tomatoes.
4. Cut the onion into half rings and add to the peppers and tomatoes. Add salt, sugar and vegetable oil. Mix well and leave to stand for half an hour so that they release juice.
5. After half an hour, the vegetables were infused and gave juice. Now put the vegetables on the stove over medium heat. The vegetables should boil and then cook them for another 25 minutes. Don't forget to stir periodically.
6. After 25 minutes, the pepper became soft and even more liquid was released. Add vinegar, stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. At the end of cooking, immediately pour the lecho into pre-sterilized jars. Do not place jars directly on the table. Place a towel or wooden board underneath.
We roll up the jars. Let cool and store.
Of course, we leave a little to immediately evaluate our work. Tasty..!
Bon appetit!
2. Recipe for winter lecho from eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and carrots
Ingredients:
Cooking time 45 min.
- Eggplants - 2 kg.
- Sweet pepper - 0.5 kg.
- Tomatoes - 1 kg.
- Carrots - 0.5kg.
- Onions -5 heads
- Garlic - 5 cloves
- Salt - 2 tbsp.
- Sugar -100g. (0.5 cup)
- Vinegar 9% -100g (0.5 cup)
- Vegetable oil - 200ml (1 glass)
Preparation:
1. Wash and dry the vegetables.
2. Take ripe and red tomatoes. Cut out the stem and cut into large slices. In general, we need tomato juice, so we can squeeze it in a juicer or grind it in a meat grinder. We'll blend it in a blender.
3. Cut the onion into half rings.
4. Cut the eggplants into large pieces. You can cut them elongated or square. We cut it lengthwise into 4 parts, and then crosswise into 4 parts.
5. Cut the pepper into half rings or, if not very large, into rings. Remove the stem and lightly clear the seeds. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
6. Pour vegetable oil into a large, deep container, place on medium heat and heat well.
7. Place chopped onions and grated carrots in a basin (we or you may have a saucepan), in well-heated oil. Stir, add a little salt and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Add all the vegetables to the onions and carrots. These are chopped eggplants, peppers and mashed tomatoes. Add all the remaining salt and sugar. Stir and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
9. After 30 minutes, add vinegar and squeeze out the garlic with a garlic press. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
10. After 10 minutes, put the lecho into pre-sterilized jars and roll up with sterilized lids.
Wash jars with soda or mustard (do not wash with chemicals). Place in a cold oven. Turn it on at 120°-130°. After heating to the set temperature, heat for another 7-15 minutes. Depending on the size of the cans. Turn off the stove, open the door and leave the jars in the oven until needed.
Throw the lids into boiling water for 5-7 minutes.
OK it's all over Now. Our eggplant lecho for the winter is ready.
Bon appetit!
3. Lecho from bell pepper with tomato paste for the winter
Ingredients:
- Sliced bell pepper 2-2.5 kg.
Marinade:
- Water - 1 liter
- Tomato paste - 200 g.
- Vegetable oil - 100 g.
- Salt - 1 tbsp. l.
- Sugar - 1 glass
- Vinegar 9% - 50 g.
- Bay leaf - 2-4 pcs.
- Peppercorns - 7-9 pcs.
Preparation:
1. Wash the peppers, remove the stem, seeds and white veins. We cut the peppers into strips and then cut them into 3, or if they are large, into 4 pieces across. There should be 2-2.5 kg of chopped pepper.
1. Wash the tomatoes, cut into 2–4 parts, cut out the stem. Grind the tomatoes in a blender. If you don’t have this kitchen device, then pass it through a meat grinder.
2. We take about 2.4–2.5 kg of bell pepper (preferably small), after you wash it, remove the green tail and cut out the seed box, then there will be just 2 kg of it. Cut the pepper into pieces convenient for you. According to the classics, cut into slices into 4-5 pieces.
3. Pour the crushed tomatoes into a large saucepan for cooking lecho and add vegetable oil (1/2 cup), sugar (1/2 cup) and salt (1 heaped tablespoon). It is better to take less sugar than the norm indicated by me, although... it depends on you. Mix everything and bring to a boil.
4. Add chopped peppers to boiled tomatoes and continue cooking for ~30 minutes. Stir frequently. Finally, pour in 3 tablespoons of vinegar, stir and set aside from the heat. Vinegar is added at the very end of cooking so that it does not evaporate.
5. Jars with lids must be sterilized. I sterilize jars in a kettle. Roll up the still hot pepper and tomato lecho and place it upside down in a blanket to cool completely. Every other day you can take it to the basement or other cool place. Lecho salad can be stored for 1 to 2 years!
Bon appetit!
Pepper and tomato lecho is a Hungarian dish common throughout Europe and Asia. This preparation does not have one specific recipe. Each housewife prepares lecho as she sees fit, but there are still a few common points in preparation. The classic recipe requires the presence of red fleshy tomatoes and bell peppers. Other ingredients are added as desired. Carrots, onions, eggplants, and beans are often added to Hungarian pepper and tomato leczo. This dish is served in European countries as a side dish for meat dishes. But lecho is not always and everywhere only vegetables rolled up in jars for the winter. There are recipes that use smoked meat and sausages. So lecho can be a full-fledged second course, and not just a sauce, as we are used to seeing it. The traditional Hungarian dish is cooked in rendered lard, topped with eggs and eaten with plenty of bread. Of course, to prepare bell pepper lecho for the winter, you will have to give up meat and eggs. But nothing prevents you from serving sweet and aromatic lecho as an appetizer for meat dishes. I present a classic recipe for lecho, it is the most delicious and very simple - a recipe made from tomatoes and bell peppers, without unnecessary vegetables and spices, the basis of the basics. Having prepared classic lecho once, you can experiment in the future with spices and additional ingredients to suit your taste. But, most likely, you won’t want to change anything. This recipe is very popular and deserves pride of place in the cookbook. The lecho tastes just like in the store! So delicious you'll lick your fingers!
Some lecho recipes call for fresh tomatoes, others use tomato juice. We will kill two birds with one stone: we will take the fruits and squeeze the juice ourselves, it’s much healthier and tastier. It is in this juice-sauce that pieces of bell pepper float in lecho from the store. The tomato sauce is homogeneous, without small tomato seeds and pieces of pulp. The sauce is also slightly thickened with starch, although whether you add it or not is up to you. We will prepare lecho without sterilization, since the preparation contains vinegar, which will prevent it from spoiling. Sealing is well stored in the closet all winter. You can eat bell pepper lecho with tomatoes right away, but it is especially useful to eat it in winter, when fresh vegetables are in short supply. It is also an excellent addition to soups (cabbage soup, rassolnik, borscht) and a filling for pie or pizza. Here is the most delicious recipe with step-by-step photos.
To prepare lecho you will need:
- 2 kg of tomatoes;
- 2.5 kg bell pepper;
- 1 tbsp. with a heap of salt;
- 0.5 tbsp. Sahara;
- 0.5 tbsp. odorless vegetable oil;
- 1 tbsp. 9% vinegar;
- 4 cloves of garlic;
- 2 tbsp. starch (optional) + 1/3 tbsp. cold water.
Recipe for lecho from bell pepper for the winter
1. Cut the tomatoes in half, larger ones into 4 parts. Will squeeze tomato juice in a juicer.
2. Squeeze the juice from the fruit. It is much healthier than store-bought juice with preservatives. You can grind the tomatoes through a meat grinder, but this is much tastier. The mass passed through the meat grinder contains pieces of pulp and tomato seeds. If you don’t have a juicer, pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel off the skin, remove the core, then pass through a meat grinder or puree with a blender. Place the pan with the juice on the lowest heat and cover with a lid. It is advisable to use a non-enamelled container so that the lecho does not burn (stainless steel, aluminum or non-stick coated dishes are suitable).
3. Until the juice begins to boil, we will have time to prepare the second main ingredient for the lecho. Bell peppers can be taken either red or yellow, or ripe green. Good fruits have fleshy walls, thin skin without wrinkles. We clean the peppers from the stalk and seeds, wash them, and chop them.
4. Place in a large container. We will immerse all the pepper at the same time, it will boil down quickly.
5. Let's see how things are going with the juice on the stove. If it is not about to boil yet, set the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Carefully remove the formed foam.
6. Now add the pepper and boil for 30 minutes from boiling, but no more, otherwise the pepper will boil too much. The heat is medium, you can cover with a lid. We do not add water. While the lecho is cooking, you can sterilize the jars and lids.
7. Add salt and sugar.
8. Squeeze the peeled garlic through a press, pour in vegetable oil.
9. Mix.
10. Remove (transfer) the pan from the heat. Dilute 2 tbsp in 1/3 cup of cold water. starch and pour the mixture into the no longer boiling lecho (if you add it while boiling, the starch will set in pieces). Mix immediately. Many people are against starch, but it is often added to store-bought lecho - a thick sauce tastes better.
11. Bring to a boil again, cook for 5 minutes, stirring, and remove from heat.
12. Pour in vinegar and stir.
13. Pour the hot lecho into hot sterilized jars (so that they do not crack). Try to put the peppers in first and then pour the sauce over them. Fill the containers to the very neck. If there is some sauce left, you can also roll it up and use it as an addition to the soup.
14. Roll up the sterilized lids and turn over. We wrap the jars with the aromatic snack in a warm blanket for a day or two, just in case, then put them in the closet. You can eat right away without waiting for the cold weather!
15. The most delicious lecho for the winter is ready. Bon appetit!
Many housewives know the recipe for making lecho. After all, such preparation is very popular in our country. However, it should be noted that today there are quite a few ways to make the mentioned salad at home. We will present only a few of them.
General information about the Hungarian dish
Before presenting a step-by-step recipe for bell pepper lecho, you should say a few words about the product itself.
Surely many remember the times when very tasty and aromatic sauces with pieces of vegetables began to be sold on store shelves for the first time. After some time, housewives began to actively make such preparations on their own.
As you know, lecho is the national dish of Hungary. However, this salad was enjoyed not only by residents of the named state, but also by other countries. Today, lecho is so widespread among our compatriots that it is difficult to imagine a hearty and tasty lunch without it.
Step-by-step recipe for bell pepper lecho
As a rule, the main components of this dish are ripe and fleshy tomatoes, as well as sweet bell peppers. In addition to them, other vegetables are often added to this sauce. To make the appetizer truly tasty and aromatic, you should definitely prepare aromatic spices for its preparation.
So, the recipe for bell pepper lecho requires the use of the following components:
- juicy large carrots - about 1 kg;
- bell pepper of any color - about 3 kg;
- fresh fleshy tomatoes - approximately 1 kg;
- deodorized vegetable oil - 250 ml;
- table vinegar (it is advisable to purchase 6%) - about 100 ml;
- not very coarse sugar - 400 g;
- sea or table salt - use to taste (about 2-2.5 large spoons).
Ingredient Processing
The presented recipe for making lecho is the simplest and easiest. It requires purchasing a standard set of products, which should first be washed and peeled well, and then chopped. Beat the tomatoes in a blender, grate the carrots on a large grater, and cut the sweet peppers into strips or half rings.
Cook delicious and aromatic lecho on the stove
What is the simplest lecho recipe you know? Tomatoes and peppers are the main ingredients of this sauce. If you use only them, then this will be the classic cooking option. In order to improve the taste of this preparation, we recommend additionally using juicy carrots.
Thus, to prepare a winter snack, you should take a large metal container and pour into it all the tomato mass made using a blender or meat grinder.
Having brought it to a boil, place juicy grated carrots and bell pepper strips in a bowl. After mixing all the ingredients, add granulated sugar, deodorized vegetable oil, and table salt. All components should be simmered over low heat for half an hour. After this, you need to add table vinegar to them and boil again for about 3-5 minutes.
Preserving the sauce for the winter
The recipe for a delicious lecho (for the winter), which can be stored in a slightly cool room for about six months, involves the use of 750-gram glass jars. They must be sterilized over steam and then filled with boiling vegetable mass. After this, the container must be immediately sealed and turned over. In this position, the jars should be kept until completely cooled (about 15-20 hours), and then stored in the basement, cellar or refrigerator. By the way, some housewives store such preparations at room temperature. In this case, it is advisable to eat them within 3-5 months.
Simple but very tasty salad: recipes for the winter
Pepper (lecho with such a vegetable turns out very tasty and aromatic) can be used in any color to prepare a winter salad. The main thing is that it is as fresh as possible. As for tomatoes, you don’t have to buy this ingredient. After all, some housewives use regular tomato paste instead.
So, for a simple but very tasty salad for the winter, we will need the following products:
- bell pepper of any color - about 1 kg;
- aromatic tomato paste - approximately 500 g;
- deodorized vegetable oil - approximately 500 ml;
- eggplants not too large - 3-5 pcs.;
- filtered water - 1 l;
Preparing Ingredients
A recipe for delicious lecho (for the winter) should include a wide variety of ingredients. But before subjecting them to heat treatment, each product should be washed, peeled and crushed. First you need to chop the sweet pepper into medium pieces, and then grate the carrots, chop the bitter onions and cut the eggplants into cubes. By the way, if the last ingredient is bitter, then it is better to soak it in cold salted water in advance. Only after these steps can you safely start cooking the ingredients on the stove.
Heat treatment on the stove
To make a real Hungarian salad at home, we will need the following products:
- juicy large carrots - about 1 kg;
- bell pepper of any color - about 1 kg;
- ripe tomatoes of fleshy varieties - 1 kg;
- deodorized vegetable oil - 300 ml;
- pearl barley - 2/3 cup;
- not very large young zucchini - 3-5 pcs.;
- fresh garlic - 1 medium head;
- large bitter bulbs - about 1 kg;
- table vinegar (it is advisable to purchase 6%) - about 100 ml;
- sugar is not very coarse - 250 g;
- sea or table salt - use to taste (about 2-2.5 large spoons).
Preparing the Components
What needs to be done to implement the presented recipe? Bulgarian lecho should be prepared by boiling pearl barley. To do this, you need to sort it out, rinse it well in a colander, and then boil it in plain water until completely soft. Next, you can safely start processing vegetables. They need to be washed, peeled and then crushed. You need to grate the carrots (large), beat the tomatoes into a paste (in a blender), chop the onions with a knife, cut the zucchini into strips, and divide the sweet peppers into not very wide half rings.
Cooking lecho on the stove
After the vegetables are chopped, you should begin to heat treat them. To do this, you need to pour the tomato pulp into a large container, and then add onions, carrots and sweet peppers to it. It is advisable to cook these ingredients for about ¼ hour. After this, add chopped zucchini, pre-boiled pearl barley, deodorized vegetable oil, table salt and sugar to the same bowl. After mixing the products, they should continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Finally, add table vinegar and crushed garlic cloves to the sauce. In this composition, vegetables need to be cooked in the same mode for about 3-6 minutes.
How to properly roll up a salad?
After the lecho with pearl barley and zucchini is completely prepared, it should be distributed hot into half-liter or 750-gram jars. However, before this, the containers should be thoroughly sterilized over steam. As for metal lids, they only need to be boiled in water for 8-12 minutes.
Having hermetically rolled up the lecho with bell peppers, zucchini and pearl barley, the workpieces must be turned over and then covered with a thick blanket or an old down jacket. It is advisable to keep the jars in this position for 24 hours, and then put them in the refrigerator, cellar or underground.
It should be noted that this salad should be consumed only after 3-5 weeks after direct preparation. After all, if you open a jar of snacks a little earlier, it is likely that you will find it bland and not very tasty. This is due to the fact that the vegetables have not yet been fully saturated with aromatic spices.
How and with what to use?
Homemade lecho is good to eat with a slice of fresh bread. Although some lovers of winter snacks prefer to serve this dish along with a side dish or soups. In any case, the winter preparation will serve as an excellent addition to any lunch meal.
