Lecho in Bulgarian for the winter

Despite the name, Bulgarian lecho is a traditional Hungarian dish. Such a preparation for the winter retains the wonderful taste and aroma of fresh bell pepper. This recipe is a classic. It consists of just a few ingredients. In addition to tomatoes and sweet peppers, there are no more vegetables in it. In addition, some spices are also added to lecho.

Bulgarian lecho can be added to stew, used as an addition to the main dish or eaten as an independent dish. Below you will see a traditional and non-traditional Bulgarian lecho recipe.

Traditional lecho in Bulgarian

It is very important to pay attention to the quality of the vegetables themselves. It depends on them how tasty the salad will turn out. Peppers for harvesting should not be overripe. We choose only ripe and juicy fruits. The color of pepper can be absolutely any. But most often it is the red varieties that are chosen. But the tomatoes may be slightly overripe, but they should not have rot. Choose soft, bright red fruits.

To prepare a classic Hungarian lecho you will need:

• ripe soft tomatoes – three kilograms;
• Bulgarian sweet pepper – two kilograms;
• salt – about 40 grams;
• granulated sugar – about 70 grams;
• allspice peas – 5 pieces;
• cloves – 4 pieces;
• black peppercorns – 5 pieces;
• vinegar 6% apple – 1,5 tablespoons.

Now you can start the cooking process. To do this, you need to clean and cut the vegetables. Wash bell peppers, cut in half, remove all seeds and cut out the stalks. Next, the fruits are cut lengthwise into large slices. Tomatoes should also be washed, remove the stalks and, if desired, the skin. But you can immediately chop the tomatoes with a food processor or meat grinder. The resulting tomato mass is poured into a large container and put on fire. After the tomato puree boils, boil it for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and removing the foam with a slotted spoon. Now it’s time to throw in the chopped peppers. The mixture is again brought to a boil.

Then all the spices are added to the dish and boiled over low heat for another 15 minutes. During this time, the pepper should become soft. Check readiness with a fork. A few minutes before full readiness, apple cider vinegar is poured into the container.

Next, the salad is poured into prepared sterilized jars and rolled up. The first day, the workpiece should be turned upside down and wrapped in a blanket. After complete cooling, the containers are moved to the cellar or any cool room. The Hungarians themselves eat lecho as an independent dish. Chicken eggs or smoked meats can be added to it. We eat such a salad as an appetizer or addition to side dishes.

Non-traditional Bulgarian lecho recipe

The s tried to create their own version of lecho, adding only a few new ingredients to it. So, the version of lecho is prepared from the following products:

• fresh fleshy tomatoes – one kilogram;
• ripe bell pepper of any color – two kilograms;
• a bunch of cilantro and dill;
• garlic – from 8 to 10 teeth;
• refined vegetable oil – one glass;
• ground black pepper – one teaspoon;
• onions (medium size) – 4 pieces;
• granulated sugar – one glass;
• dry ground paprika – one teaspoon;
• table vinegar – one teaspoon;
• salt (to taste).

We begin the preparation of the workpiece by slicing vegetables. We clean and cut the pepper, as in the previous recipe. Then we clean from the husk and cut the onion into half rings. Wash fresh tomatoes and cut into large pieces. Now we put a large frying pan on the fire and begin to add vegetables in turn. The onion is thrown into the pan first, it must be brought to a transparent state. After that, add the chopped tomatoes and simmer over low heat in their own juice for 20 minutes.

After that, prepared peppers are thrown into the pan and continue to cook lecho for another 5 minutes. After this time, it is necessary to remove the lid from the pan and then simmer the salad for another 10 minutes. All this time, the workpiece should be stirred so that it does not stick to the bottom.

Now it’s time to add finely chopped garlic, apple cider vinegar and sugar to the dish. Cook for another 20 minutes. Chopped greens are added last. Lecho should boil with it for a few more minutes and you can turn it off. Now the workpiece can be poured into containers and rolled up.

Some secrets of cooking lecho

Whatever lecho recipe you use, the following tips will definitely come in handy:

1. Salads are best rolled into small jars of 0,5 or 1 liter.
2. Chopped vegetables should be about the same size. Such a salad will look much more attractive and appetizing.
3. If there is vinegar in the salad recipe, then only enameled dishes should be used. Also, it should not have any cracks or other flaws.

Conclusion

Now you know for sure that Bulgarian lecho for the winter is a Hungarian dish with a very simple composition and a quick cooking process. Such preparation preserves not only the aroma of fresh vegetables, but also the taste, as well as some vitamins.