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Lecho is very popular in Our Country today. It quickly turned from a banal European dish into a unique snack. Closed in jars for the winter, it can be used as a delicious side dish, salad or just as a dressing. Today we will learn how to cook lecho from bell pepper for the winter “You will lick your fingers”.
Basics of cooking lecho
This dish originally from Hungary has perfectly taken root in Our Country. Lecho recipes differ in the number of ingredients and the composition of the products. Someone likes to add a little bitterness to the dish, someone, on the contrary, eats only a sweet dish.
In Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, lecho is a delicious side dish. We often roll it up in jars for the winter and use it with pleasure as a winter salad or an addition to hot dishes. Cooking lecho is a simple event. You can spend 2 hours on it. It is better to take dishes with a thick bottom.
Traditionally, lecho is stewed sweet peppers in tomato puree, however, recipes can be modified, sometimes drastically. Since everyone has different tastes, we will try to present to the readers the recipes for the most delicious snacks. Among them there is at least one that will quickly win the heart.
Best recipes
Even a novice hostess can cook a delicious lecho. You just need to strictly follow the recipe. The appetizer will turn out tender, fragrant!
Recipe number 1 Eggplant Lecho
It’s good when the ingredients for lecho ripen on their own beds. For those who have born such a complex culture as eggplant, this recipe.
We will need:
- Eggplants, medium-sized onions and peppers – 1 kilogram each;
- Tomato juice – 600 ml;
- Any vegetable oil – 1 cup (preferably odorless);
- Table vinegar – 30 grams (9%);
- Sugar – 3 tbsp. spoons with a slide;
- Salt – 1,5 tbsp. spoons.
Iodized can give extraneous odors and spoil the whole dish.
Cooking begins with the preparation of vegetables. They need to be washed and cut into pieces. Someone likes finely chopped vegetables, someone large. Cut the way you like it. Eggplants are immediately salted and dipped in a colander. During the first 20 minutes, they will give away some of the water that is not needed for cooking. Now you can wash the eggplants and do the peppers and onions. While you are cutting, you need to pour the tomato juice into a container and put on fire.
As soon as the juice boils, all the vegetables are added to it, salted and sugar is added. As soon as the mixture boils again, pour in a glass of vegetable oil. The fire is reduced to a minimum and left to languish for half an hour. Stir occasionally so that it doesn’t burn.
After 30 minutes, the fire must be extinguished and table vinegar poured in. Mix everything again and pour into sterilized jars. It turns out lecho – you will lick your fingers! Eggplants reveal their taste and make the dish richer.
Recipe number 2 Traditional pepper lecho for the winter
When preparing a dish according to this recipe, you only need pepper, meaty tomatoes and onions. All these vegetables need to be taken per kilogram.
Additional Ingredients:
- Head of fresh garlic;
- Odorless vegetable oil – a glass;
- Coarse sea salt – 1,5 tablespoons;
- Sugar – 2,5 tablespoons;
- Vinegar 9% – 20 ml.
This time, instead of tomato juice, we use fresh tomatoes. We first remove the skin from them and grind them through a meat grinder. This can also be done with a blender.
The tomato gruel will languish over low heat after boiling for 15-20 minutes. During this time, excess liquid will evaporate from it, the tomatoes will turn into a thick and aromatic sauce. While the tomatoes are cooking, you need to chop the onion and pepper as you like. Onions are usually cut into half rings. Garlic is either passed through a press or chopped. To preserve a brighter taste, we advise you to chop it.
First of all, onions are sent to the sauce, then pepper, sugar and salt. Mix everything thoroughly and cook for another 30 minutes. The pepper should not be digested. Pour in the oil about 10 minutes before the end of cooking, and five minutes before removing from heat, add the garlic. Vinegar is poured after the lecho is ready, right before pouring it into jars.
Lecho for the winter “You’ll lick your fingers” is traditionally ready! Now you can learn an unusual recipe.
Recipe number 3 Appetizer with cucumbers and peppers
If traditional recipes are used quite often, then sometimes you want to try such snacks, but there are fears that you will not like the dish. This recipe is very good, on long winter evenings you can enjoy eating such a lecho with bread or potatoes, as well as with fish or meat.
So, we need:
- Fleshy tomatoes for sauce – 1 kg;
- sweet salad pepper – 1 kg;
- Medium-sized cucumbers – 2 kg;
- Garlic – half a head;
- Salt – 3 tbsp. spoons without a slide;
- Sugar – 1 glass;
- Vinegar – 80 ml;
- Odorless vegetable oil – 160 ml.
Please note that this time more table vinegar 9% will be required for the marinade. It’s all about the use of cucumbers.
Tomatoes are crushed to a mushy state. Vegetables are cut as follows:
- cucumbers – rings or half rings;
- pepper – thin strips;
- garlic – straw.
For this recipe, you do not need to pass garlic through a press. While the vegetables are being cut, you need to bring the sauce to a boil: oil, tomato gruel, sugar and salt are mixed in a saucepan. As soon as the sauce boils, without closing the lid, let it boil for 10 minutes over low heat. Now you need to fill in all the vegetables at once and wait for the boil, after adding the fire. After boiling, reduce the fire and cook for another 10 minutes. Now pour in the vinegar, boil again for 10 minutes and pour the lecho into sterilized jars.
Recipe number 4 Lecho with carrots
Those who love a sweetish taste will love this lecho. The recipe is to lick your fingers. In winter, such an appetizer can even be used as a dressing for first courses. Try it! Indifferent will not remain.
In order to get a delicious lecho, you will need:
- Shop tomato juice – 1,5 liters;
- Carrots – 1 kg;
- Salad sweet pepper – 2 kg;
- Medium-sized onion – 0,5 kg;
- Sugar – 1/3 cup;
- Refined vegetable oil – 1/2 cup;
- Salt – 1,5 tbsp. spoons;
- vinegar – 80 ml (9%).
You can start preparing a delicious snack for the winter.
Since tomato juice is used for the sauce, there is no need to spend time chopping tomatoes. The juice is poured into a saucepan, vegetable oil is added to it and brought to a boil. As soon as it boils, you can add onion, cut into half rings, carrots, cut into either strips or circles, if it is medium-sized.
After 10 minutes after languishing over low heat, add salt, sugar and immediately pepper. Cook for another 20 minutes. By this time, all vegetables will finally reach the desired condition. Now you can turn off the fire and add vinegar. The appetizer is mixed and poured into prepared jars. The most delicious lecho is ready!
Storing this snack
There are no difficulties with storing lecho according to the recipes presented. A sufficient amount of vinegar and vegetable oil will ensure the preservation of snacks throughout the winter. Banks are sterilized in the classical way or convenient for you. After rolling up the lids, they need to be turned over and allowed to cool in this form. Lecho can be stored until spring. However, most often it is eaten very quickly. Close such an appetizer in convenient liter jars.
If necessary, you can add some spices to the recipes, such as black pepper or paprika. If bitterness is needed, fresh hot peppers can be added. Each housewife will definitely find her own recipe for lecho “You will lick your fingers”.