Good afternoon dear friends! Today we have an excellent selection of delicious preparations made from bell peppers and tomatoes - lecho. The recipe is simple, and the lecho turns out very, very tasty. In winter, a jar of homemade lecho will come in very handy, you will eat it and remember it with a kind word. This is not just a very tasty food, it is a wonderful snack and addition to meat dishes. and also a source of vitamins.
Lecho according to the classic recipe from bell peppers with tomatoes
Today we will prepare a classic lecho from simple ingredients - red bell peppers, large, sweet, juicy and meaty tomatoes. The sweeter the pepper, the tastier the lecho will be.
Ingredients:
- sweet bell pepper -3 kg
- ripe tomatoes - 2 kg
- sugar - 100 grams
- salt - 2 tbsp. spoons
- 9% vinegar - 2 tbsp. spoons
- vegetable oil - 100 ml
Preparation:
- Wash the peppers, remove seeds and stalks. Cut into slices or rings, as you prefer.
2. Wash the tomatoes, remove the stems, cut into pieces.
3. Grind the tomatoes in a blender or pass through a meat grinder.
4. Add 2 tbsp to the tomato mass. level spoons of salt, sugar and vegetable oil.
Sugar and salt can be added to taste. If you like it very spicy, add 1 piece of hot pepper.
5. Add bell pepper cut into slices to the tomatoes. Mix everything properly. Place on the stove to cook. It will cook from the moment of boiling for 30 minutes over low heat. Don't forget to stir so it doesn't burn. The pepper should be crispy and not cooked.
6. At the end of cooking, pour vinegar and stir everything thoroughly again.
7. Wash and sterilize the jars. It is better to boil the lids. Turn off the lecho over low heat. We never turn it off completely. Let the jars cool a little. And we begin to put it into jars.
8. Roll up the jars, turn them over, wrap them in a blanket and leave them in this position until they cool completely. If we roll up the metal lids, the lecho can be stored indoors.
Our lecho according to the classic recipe is ready.
Enjoy your preparations.
Lecho made from pepper and tomato paste for the winter in Bulgarian
This recipe for lecho made from pepper and tomato paste in Bulgarian is very simple and very tasty.
Ingredients:
- 4 kg bell pepper
- 3 heads of garlic
- 2 l - pureed tomatoes
- 2 liters of water
- 3 tbsp. l-salt
- 1.5 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp - grows. oils
- 2 tbsp. l - vinegar 25% (40 ml)
Preparation:
1. Prepare the filling from pureed tomatoes and water. You can replace mashed tomatoes with 5 liters of tomato juice or sauce (tomato paste) without additives.
2. We will prepare tomato paste from pureed tomatoes. The tomatoes need to be washed and the skins removed. To do this, pierce the tomatoes, scald with boiling water, and leave for 5 minutes. When the skin bursts and begins to come off, remove it.
3. Grind the tomatoes in a blender or pass through a meat grinder. Pour 2 liters of pureed tomatoes into a saucepan and add 2 liters of water. Let this mass boil. When our filling boils, add 3 tbsp. heaped tablespoons of salt, 1.5 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp. vegetable oil and wait until it boils again, stir.
4. Prepare the pepper. We peel it from the stalk and cut it lengthwise into 4 parts. No need to cut finely.
6. Prepare clean, sterilized jars, put a clove of garlic in them, fill them with pepper and close the lids.
7. Turn the jars over. Cover with a blanket until completely cool. When the jars of lecho have cooled, put them away for storage in a cool place.
Our Bulgarian-style lecho made from pepper and tomato paste is ready.
Bon appetit!
Bell pepper lecho with tomatoes and carrots
Ingredients:
- tomatoes-1.5 kg
- bell pepper -1.5 kg
- carrots - 250 gr
- hot pepper - 0.5-1 pcs
- garlic - 6-7 cloves
- sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons
- salt - 0.5 tbsp
- vegetable oil -50 ml
- vinegar 9% - 1.5 tbsp. spoons
Preparation:
1.Prepare bell pepper. Wash, remove seeds and stalks. Cut into 4 slices. The bigger the better.
2. Prepare tomato juice from tomatoes. Peel and grind in a blender or meat grinder.
3. Finely chop the garlic.
4. Finely chop the chilli pepper. If we want the lecho to be spicy, leave a few seeds, they will add spiciness to the dish.
5. Grate the carrots.
6.Pour tomato juice into a saucepan. Place on the stove and bring to a boil.
7. Add carrots and vegetable oil to the boiling mass. Cook after boiling for 20 minutes over low heat.
8. Add bell and hot peppers. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
9. Add salt 1 tbsp. level spoon, 2 tablespoons sugar and vinegar. Cook for another 10 minutes.
10.Pour the hot mixture into sterilized jars and screw on the lids.
Lecho of bell peppers with tomatoes and carrots is ready. Delicious preparations to everyone.
Bon appetit!
Lecho for the winter in a slow cooker
Today it has become fashionable to cook preparations in a slow cooker. This quick and versatile savory snack is rich in vitamins and is very easy to prepare. You can eat it simply with bread, make a sauce for pasta and rice, or serve it with meat and fish dishes as a side dish.
Ingredients:
- bell pepper - 1 kg
- tomatoes - 1 kg
- onion - 250 gr
- garlic - 5-6 cloves
- oil - 50 ml
- salt-0.5 tbsp. spoons
- sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons
- vinegar 9% - 1.5 tbsp. spoons
Preparation:
1. Wash the pepper and remove the stem and seeds. Cut into cubes or to your liking.
2. Wash the tomatoes, cut off the core, grind in a meat grinder or grind in a blender, after removing the skin.
3. Cut the onion and garlic into cubes.
4. Pour oil into the bottom of the multicooker bowl, then lay out all the vegetables - bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, then add hot peppers, garlic, salt and sugar. Mix everything.
5. Set the multicooker for 1 hour in the “Stew” mode. You can stir during the stewing process.
6. Test the vegetables for doneness. If it’s damp, continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Add vinegar 5 minutes before it’s ready.
7.Place the finished lecho from the multicooker into sterilized jars and screw on the lids. Turn the jars over, cover with a blanket and leave until completely cool.
9. Then put it in a cool place for storage.
To prepare lecho for the main products, tomatoes and bell peppers, you can use various ingredients to your taste - onions, garlic, hot peppers, carrots and in the quantity you like. All this will give your lecho additional aroma and taste.
Find some free time and prepare this wonderful and tasty lecho. Improvise, come up with your own new recipes and share with us.
Pepper and tomato lecho for the winter. Video
Delicious preparations for you, friends!
The easiest way to prepare sweet peppers and preserve the beneficial properties is freezing. But not everyone likes its taste and consistency after defrosting. Good old conservation saves the situation. And there are a lot of homemade recipes with sweet peppers. Introducing an easy-to-prepare but amazingly delicious pepper appetizer. We are talking about lecho, of which there are several options. Here are the most common ones.
Recipe for winter lecho with tomato paste
Inventory: large saucepan, small saucepan for sterilizing lids, large bowl for chopped peppers, jar sterilizer (such as a small-necked kettle), cutting board, measuring cup, kitchen scale, knife, ladle, oven mitts, dry towel, jars (3 liter or 6 half-liter), lids and seaming key.
Ingredients
A little about pepper
The peel of capsicum is rich in almost the entire complex of micro- and macroelements necessary for humans. And its pulp contains the same amount of carotene (provitamin A) as carrots, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) - 6 times more than citrus fruits. However, the acidity of the vegetable does not reach a bactericidal concentration, so acetic acid is used when canning. In an acidic environment, the development of microorganisms stops and pickled peppers do not spoil.
Salt and sugar are also added to the marinade. They are weak preservatives, but significantly improve the taste.
- To make the preserves tastier, choose pods with a thick wall.
- To make it more beautiful - multi-colored.
- To make the preparation healthier, use red pepper: it contains the largest amount of vitamin C and carotene.
Only sweet peppers are suitable for lecho:
- Bulgarian;
- Moldavian;
- Maikopsky;
- Gogoshary.
The pods are cut into pieces convenient for consumption and boiled in a marinade. The recipe usually indicates the weight of the already peeled pepper. Marinade for lecho always contains tomato:
- tomato paste diluted with water;
- tomato sauce;
- tomato juice;
- crushed tomatoes.
Step-by-step preparation
Prepare lecho for packaging
Sterilize jars and lids
Package the lecho and roll it up
Video recipe for making lecho with tomato paste
Learn how to quickly cut peppers. Pay attention to the consistency of the finished product and the serving size of the lecho placed in the jar.
Even a novice housewife can handle this recipe. But this is just the advice for these people: Be sure to sterilize jars and lids. Otherwise, you risk spoiling the food, and your work will be in vain: the contents will ferment and the lids will swell. Preservation will become unfit for consumption.
Try closing it for the winter. This preparation will become both an excellent snack and a full-fledged dish when for some reason you don’t have time to cook.
Recipe for winter lecho with tomato juice
Canning time: about an hour.
Exit: 1 liter.
Inventory: a colander, a saucepan for it, a cutting board, a kitchen scale, a knife, a grater, a slotted spoon, a saucepan, a deep frying pan, jars (1 liter or 2 half-liter) and lids.
Ingredients
Step-by-step preparation
Prepare the tomato
Prepare the vegetables
- Peel 600 g of pepper from the seeds, cut into medium squares.
- Place a colander firmly on the pan.
- Pour 3 tbsp into the pan. l. vegetable oil, set to heat. Add the chopped peppers to the heating pan. Cook, stirring, until soft (about 6 minutes).
- While the peppers are roasting, cut 3 large onions into thin quarter rings.
- Remove the peppers with a slotted spoon and place in a colander to drain excess fat.
- Sauté a quarter of an onion ring into the pepper oil, don’t forget to stir.
- While the onion is being processed, grate 4 carrots on a coarse grater.
- Sprinkle sauteed onion with 1 tsp. sugar for caramelization, stir and fry for another 1 minute.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the pepper.
- Lastly, simmer the grated carrots in the remaining oil and vegetable juice. It goes into the pan last, as it is able to absorb all the oil. Simmer it, stirring, for 4-5 minutes, and then add to the rest of the vegetables.
Prepare some lecho
Video recipe for making lecho with tomato juice
In the video, the recipe for lecho with tomato juice is demonstrated as a summer vegetable stew. But if you want to preserve it, take 3-4 times more food and calculate the number of jars and lids. In this case, you will first have to chop the vegetables, as they do in the video, and then fry them, put them in jars and sterilize them.
- In the oven, covered jars are placed on a wire rack located in the middle; the lids are also not screwed on.
- After the sterilization time has expired, the jars are removed using oven mitts without moving the lids.
- Place it on a dry towel folded 4 times and roll it up.
- Place the rolled-up canned food upside down on a blanket in a secluded place so that no one accidentally gets burned or broken.
- After sterilization, there is no need to wrap the workpieces: they can cool naturally at room temperature.
Additives that improve taste
The following products will not affect the cooking time and sterilization time, but will significantly improve the taste:
- several cloves of garlic passed through a press (but for spicy lovers, more is possible);
- a small piece of hot pepper;
- ground and allspice, peppercorns;
- chopped fresh herbs;
- Bay leaf.
As you can see, everything is quite simple. You just need to follow the recipe and follow the principles of preparing homemade preparations. Although it is not necessary to scrupulously follow the grocery list: consider your food priorities. The main thing is to remember that there are products that require sterilization. Have you ever tried lecho? How do you prepare it? Share the recipe in the comments.
Almost every recipe for lecho with tomato paste and sweet pepper does not require much time for preparation. The options differ in the composition of the products and the method of processing the preservation: some involve sealing the jars without sterilization, while in others the container filled with salad must be sterilized and only then sealed. But all the proposed methods have one thing in common: the taste, aroma and beautiful color of the salad.
Preparing bell peppers for the winter in the classic way will appeal to housewives who do not want to spend a lot of time processing tomatoes. Tomato paste is used instead of fresh tomatoes. The taste of pickled pepper is simply amazing. Some people call this method “lazy”: with proper skill, it takes about 30 minutes to prepare the preserved food, not counting the time spent preparing the vegetables. All the ingredients for canning can be bought at the market, and if you have vegetables from your own garden, that’s even better.
Set of products for 3 liters of salad:
- salad pepper red or yellow, with thick walls - 2 kg;
- tomato paste - 350 g;
- table vinegar 9% - 100 ml;
- lean oil (preferably unrefined) - 200 ml;
- filtered or settled water - 600 ml;
- granulated sugar - 150 g;
- fine salt - 1 tbsp. spoon.
You can use coarse salt, but you need to take a little more.
The pepper fruits are washed, cut lengthwise into 2 parts and the seed chamber is removed. They chop it into large strips, trying to make them long: in canned form, such cuts look very beautiful. Pour water into a bowl and add tomato paste. Pour in sugar and salt, dissolve, immediately after that add butter.
If someone doesn’t like the smell of unrefined oil, you can use deodorized oil, but then the taste and aroma will not be the same as in the original recipe for pepper lecho for the winter.
Mix everything, add pepper and cook for 18 - 20 minutes.
The mixture must be stirred all the time so that it does not burn. At the very end, pour vinegar, stir again, let it boil and turn it off. Lecho is packaged hot in containers. The jars must first be steamed over a kettle or in the oven, and the metal lids must be lowered into boiling water for a few seconds.
Final stage: preserve with a seaming wrench. An alternative option is screw caps (twist-off system). In both cases, the salad is perfectly stored.
With fresh tomatoes
To make pepper lecho with tomato paste, you need to take fresh tomatoes, peel them and grind them. The resulting mass is placed on the fire and boiled until tender. Some housewives remove the seeds, but this is not necessary. Having prepared the remaining ingredients and containers, you can begin to preserve lecho for the winter.
Product set:
- thick paste from fresh tomatoes - 1 liter jar;
- salad pepper (preferably meaty) - 2 kg;
- spring or well water - 2 l;
- garlic - 5 large cloves;
- granulated sugar - 195 g;
- salt - 90 g;
- vegetable oil - 310 g;
- white onion - 750 g;
- carrots -750 g;
- acetic acid - 2 tbsp. l.
When canned, red or yellow peppers with thick walls are especially tasty and beautiful, but if you don’t have that, any will do.
Treatment
Add water to the thick tomato paste to obtain a liquid consistency. Pour the mixture into a large saucepan, add salt, sugar and coarsely grated carrots. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer on low for 10 minutes. At this time, cut the onions and peppers into half rings, add them to the tomato mass, wait until it boils, and cook again over low heat.
After 20 minutes, add finely chopped garlic, pour in oil and vinegar, and boil for half an hour. Place in prepared jars, cover with lids and sterilize for 15 minutes, then seal. The finished pepper in tomato sauce is left in the kitchen until it cools, then taken away for storage in the cellar. Lecho is made similarly from bell peppers with tomato juice.
With young eggplants
The recipe will help if the “little blue ones” have turned out well, and you are tired of all the traditional snacks made from them. Eggplants need to be prepared in a special way: trim the stalks, cut into circles and place on a dish, sprinkling with a small amount of salt. Leave the eggplants in this form for 30 minutes, while the remaining ingredients are prepared.
After half an hour, the eggplant pieces become obsolete and the juice is poured out. You can’t keep it in salt for longer than 30 minutes, otherwise lecho with tomato paste for the winter will turn out too salty.
Product set:
- young eggplants - 1 kg;
- salad pepper - 1 kg;
- tomato paste - 500 g;
- onion - 500 g;
- granulated sugar - 3 tbsp. spoons;
- water - 500 ml;
- rock salt - 1 tbsp. spoon.
In this version of preparing for the winter, the pepper fruits are carefully cut into 2 parts lengthwise, the seed chamber is removed, and cut into cubes 3–4 cm long. The onion is peeled and chopped into half rings or strips. Tomato paste is mixed with water, the mass is poured into a large saucepan, salted, sugar is added, stirred until the grains dissolve and allowed to boil.
Place the prepared onion into the boiling liquid, cook for 4 minutes, then put the eggplant pieces in there and simmer for 11 - 12 minutes over low heat. Add the salad pepper and cook for another half hour while stirring. Then add vinegar, let it boil again, boil for 2 - 3 minutes and immediately pack it into jars. You can close it with regular metal or screw caps.
The sealed canned food is turned over to make sure that it is sealed and left on the table in this form. To extend cooling time, cover with a blanket or sweatshirt. When the preservation has cooled down, which will happen in about a day, it can be taken to the cellar. Preparing peppers in tomato paste for the winter with eggplants is not at all difficult, so the recipe is just a godsend for those who like original combinations of products. Cook with pleasure! Instead of eggplants, you can use young zucchini, preferably zucchini, but another variety will do.
Preparing an appetizer with zucchini is no different, but it is advisable to use red or yellow pepper to make the lecho bright. There is no need to peel the zucchini.
Recipe with onions and carrots
Assorted lecho is a tasty and healthy preparation, rich in various vitamins. It is not difficult to prepare, so even a novice housewife can handle it. According to this recipe, you should make lecho from bell peppers with tomato paste for the whole winter: by spring there is nothing left.
Product set:
- salad peppers with thick walls - 1 kg;
- carrots - 400 g;
- white onion - 0.3 kg;
- garlic - 1 large head;
- tomato paste - 500 g;
- coarse salt - 50 g;
- lean oil (refined) - 130 ml;
- 9% vinegar - 50 ml;
- granulated sugar - 10 g.
To make winter lecho with tomato juice, you need to take twice as much as paste.
Pickling process
The jars are steamed and placed on the table bottom up, the lids are dipped in boiling water for a few seconds, taken out and placed next to each other.
The pepper fruits are washed, cut lengthwise in half, and the seed nest is pulled out. Chop the pepper into large strips lengthwise or crosswise. The carrots are washed, scraped, washed again, then finely chopped or chopped on a grater with large holes to form sticks. The onion is cut into half rings or thin strips, as you like.
Garlic is crushed with a garlic press. If grated tomatoes are used instead of tomato paste, they are boiled until thick.
Oil is poured into a goose or duck pot, heated and onions are added. It needs to be kept on the fire for 4 - 5 minutes, without frying, so that it sautés but does not change color. Carrots, garlic and pepper are added to the onion. Mix everything and simmer for about 10 minutes. Tomato paste is diluted with water and this mixture is poured into vegetables. Salad with tomato juice for the winter is prepared in the same way, only water is not added.
Cook for another 40 minutes with constant stirring. Then add vinegar, boil the mixture for 3 minutes, turn off the stove and immediately pack the salad into jars. Seal with screw caps or regular ones, using a sealing key, and leave the jars at room temperature until they cool completely, turning them upside down and wrapping them in a blanket or warm clothing. Then they are transferred to the basement, where the workpiece is successfully stored all winter.
Blank preparations – sweet, salty, spicy; oily and savory, aromatic and fragrant. There is nothing better than opening “sunshine” in a jar on snowy winter evenings and feasting on the golden ruddy vegetables that you so lovingly prepared in the fall.
Today we will talk about preparations from sweet red, popularly called bell pepper. No one can answer for sure why it is Bulgarian, since it has nothing to do with Bulgaria.
Perhaps this name “stuck” to it during the Soviet Union, when it was imported from this country. But the real homeland of this vegetable is America; it grows well at a temperature of 20-25 degrees and good humidity.
Therefore, in Russia it is not easy to get a pepper harvest; we rarely have consistently warm, humid summers. And it lasts only three months, and that’s according to the calendar. Sometimes even less. But we do not despair, and grow it in greenhouses.
And those who manage to become happy owners of their own rich harvest, of course, prepare it for future use. One of the most popular preparations is, of course, lecho. It can be consumed either on its own or added to main courses. We have already written on this topic, and shared, and “.
And today our topic is devoted to our favorite preparation exclusively with tomato paste. Which is very interesting. After all, with it the cooking process is reduced by at least two times.
That's why we offer you several recipes to choose from. And you choose which one is closer to you.
A classic recipe and therefore one of the most popular options for preparing lecho is a mixture of tomato paste and bell pepper, with seasonings and vegetables.
It's not complicated. The main thing is to strictly follow the recipe, then you will delight yourself with delicious preparations.
Ingredients (yield approximately 4 liters):
- Sweet pepper 2 kg
- Tomato paste 300 gr
- Carrots 1 kg
- Onion 500 gr
- Sugar 200 gr
- Water 2 liters
- Vegetable oil 200 gr
- Vinegar 9% 90 - 100 ml
- Garlic 1 head
Preparation:
1. Place a large cooking dish on the fire. This can be a bulky dish or a small cooking basin. The main thing is that there is enough space in the dish for convenient mixing of vegetables.
2. Pour water into a container and add tomato paste. Mix until smooth. You can use store-bought tomato paste. It has a rich taste and color, and cooking with it always turns out delicious.
The main thing is to make sure that it is without any unnecessary additives. And even better without salt and without sugar. Information about this can be read on the packaging.
3. Wash the carrots, peel them, cut off the tails. Grate it on a coarse grater. You can also use a Korean carrot grater for chopping.
Although you can cut it into small strips, slices, rings, half rings, or grind it in a food processor. In this case, the pieces will turn out to be very small, which is not very good for lecho. But, as an option, it is possible.
Pour it into the tomato and stir. Cook over low heat.
4. Add granulated sugar and salt to the mixture. If a tomato contains these components, then be guided more by your taste than by the recipe recommendations.
5. While the tomato mixture is cooking, start onions. It should be peeled and cut into small pieces. You should not make them very small, since the onions in this dish will not taste bitter or give an unpleasant taste. He will become an equal member of the vegetable fraternity in this dish.
When everything is chopped, the onion should also be placed in the pan.
6. While the vegetables are cooking, let's process the bell pepper. It should be washed, seeds removed and stalks cut off. Then cut first into strips lengthwise, and then into small cubes.
7. Send it to cook with other vegetables and wait for the mass to boil.
After boiling, cook for another 15-20 minutes, always stirring. Don't be afraid that it will remain raw. Even if, in your opinion, it is damp, it will “reach” in the jar during “passive” sterilization.
If you overcook the vegetables while cooking, everything in the jar may simply turn into mush.
8. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, pour sunflower oil and vinegar into the mixture. Grate the garlic, or pass it through a press, and also add it to the vegetables.
9. While the mixture is still hot, pour the prepared snack into clean, sterilized jars and roll up. To make sure they are well sealed, turn the jars upside down and place them on a cotton cloth.
If the jar is poorly closed, you will immediately see it; it will begin to leak.
The recipe is easy to prepare and very easy to make a delicious preparation for the winter.
Lecho from bell pepper with tomato paste for the winter - recipe “You'll lick your fingers” (with video)
The recipe is very similar in composition to the previous one, but their tastes will differ due to the lack of some ingredients. It's even easier to prepare. And it turns out very tasty. People say about this that while you eat such a snack, you will lick all your fingers.
How to cook? Read the recipe, and also watch it in video format, and cook with pleasure.
Ingredients:
- Bell pepper 800 gr
- Tomato paste 500 gr
- Water 250 ml
- Garlic 4 cloves
- Salt 1 tbsp
- Sugar 1 tbsp
- Sunflower oil 1 tbsp
- Vinegar 2 tbsp
- Peppercorns 4-5 pcs
- Allspice 4 pcs
- Bay leaf 1 piece
Preparation:
1. Wash the pepper, divide it in half and remove the entire core along with the stalks. Then cut into transverse slices.
2. Dilute tomato paste with water and pour this mixture over the chopped vegetables.
3. Add bay leaf and two types of pepper to the mixture. If you wish, you can also add your favorite seasoning, or, conversely, do not add, say, pepper. It's all a matter of taste.
4. Transfer the future lecho into a saucepan and put on fire. The mass should boil. After this, add one tablespoon of sugar and salt. It’s not worth adding more just yet; it’s better to adjust the taste later.
5. You need to cook for about half an hour, then add two tablespoons of vegetable oil and vinegar. Next is grated garlic. If desired, you can add a hot pod.
6. Cook the dish for about 15 more minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. After the specified time, you can taste the finished dish and add sugar or salt if necessary.
7. Transfer the finished product into a jar while hot and close with a lid. So it will stay until winter. Bon appetit!
You can also watch the entire cooking recipe in the video provided.
Pepper and zucchini lecho with tomato paste
Along with bell peppers, another nutritious and healthy vegetable ripens at the end of summer - zucchini. And combining them together in a jar would be a great idea.
Together they create an excellent duet, and I will tell you how to combine them deliciously in this recipe.
Ingredients:
- Zucchini 2 kg
- Bell pepper 500 gr
- Onion 500 gr
- Carrots 500 gr
- Garlic 1 head
- Sunflower oil 1.5 cups
- Salt 1 - 2 level tablespoons (or to taste)
- Sugar 7 tablespoons
- Vinegar 9% 100 ml (more is possible)
- Tomato paste 300 gr
- Water 1000 ml
This amount of ingredients makes approximately 4.5 liters of salad.
Preparation:
1. Wash, peel and remove the tails from the carrots. Then grate on a coarse grater. If you find this tedious, you can run it through the rack of your food processor.
An excellent option would be to grate it through a Korean carrot grater.
2. Peel the onion and cut into medium-sized cubes. You can use either white or red varieties. The second will give the finished dish additional beauty.
3. Wash the pepper, peel it and cut it into small strips.
Why straw? Because it is the main character in this dish and cannot be dissolved in liquid like other vegetables.
4. Wash the zucchini. If they are already mature, you can get rid of the peel. If they are young, you can leave it.
Cut the root vegetable into rings or plates about 1 centimeter thick, then cut into cubes.
5. Place a thick-bottomed pan, a roasting pan, or a frying pan with high sides on the fire.
Pour one and a half glasses of sunflower oil into it and simmer the onions and carrots. There is no need to fry them. You just need to wait until they become soft.
6. Next, add the peppers and zucchini to the bowl and mix well.
7. In a separate bowl, mix tomato paste with water. This should not be done on fire, as the paste may burn while you mix all the contents of the pan.
8. Pour the tomato mixture over all the vegetables.
Add salt, sugar, grated garlic and mix gently without damaging the already soft vegetables. Next, we wait for the liquid to boil and then simmer the finished lecho for another 40 minutes.
9. At the very end, pour vinegar into the dish and simmer for another 5 minutes. After it has dispersed, you can taste the sauce, and if you feel that there is not enough acid for your taste, you can add a little more to taste.
I have come across recipes where up to 200 ml of acid is added to a given amount of vegetables. For me personally, this is a lot, but everyone has different tastes. And, as you know, you can’t argue with him.
10. Place the hot salad into sterile jars and close. Turn over, place on the lid and cover with a warm blanket. Leave in this position until completely cooled.
Then put it away for storage. Wait for winter!!!
How to prepare lecho from 3 kg of bell pepper and tomato paste
Why exactly three kilograms of pepper, you ask? Because, for preparing one type of salad, this amount is just enough for the whole winter. It is better to prepare several different options than to focus on just one.
Today there are many different recipes, so if you prepare a little of all the appetizers, then our winter diet will be more varied.
Ingredients:
- Bell pepper 3 kg
- Onions 1 kg
- Tomato paste 250 gr
- Sugar 1 cup
- Sunflower oil 1 cup
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Water 750 gr
- Vinegar 9% 1/2 cup
- Salt 2 tablespoons (or to taste)
- Bay leaf
Preparation:
1. First of all, you need to wash the pepper. We have our own, homemade, meaty. To make the finished dish beautiful, we chose multi-colored fruits.
For this recipe, by the way, you can use not fully ripened specimens. As a result, they will still turn out delicious. Vegetables must be cut into longitudinal strips.
2. After removing the skins, rinse the onions with running water and cut into half rings approximately 4-5 mm thick.
3. Take a large saucepan with a thick bottom, pour water into it, add salt and granulated sugar, boil until all the crystals dissolve.
4. Pour in vegetable oil and vinegar. We do this now, without food, so that the liquid is ready to “receive” all the vegetables.
5. Next, pour in the tomato paste and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
6. Place chopped peppers and onions into the prepared liquid. Next, you need to reduce the heat, close the pan with a lid and let the mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes.
7. Before putting the finished lecho into jars, they must be sterilized over steam or by boiling. Then roll them up and keep them under a warm blanket until they cool completely.
This amount of ingredients will yield approximately 4.5 liters of finished product.
Delicious lecho with tomato and honey
Have you ever tried lecho with honey? I first met him at a party. I don't really like honey, but this dish was simply divine. Sweet, melt-in-your-mouth peppers with honey sauce - it’s so tasty that you can swallow your tongue. And “lick your fingers” – this is not even discussed!
Don't believe me? Give it a try. And here's the recipe.
Ingredients (yield 1.5 liters):
- Sweet pepper 1.5 kg
- Garlic 1 head (30 gr.)
- Tomato juice 1\2 liters
- Vinegar 9% 2 tbsp. spoons
- Honey 3 tbsp (sugar is possible)
- Salt 1 tsp
- Vegetable oil 50 ml
Preparation:
1. First of all, you need to peel the peppers and cut them into pieces that are convenient for you. Which ones - decide for yourself. Some people like them to be long layers that cover the entire plate, while others like them to fit neatly into a spoon.
To do this, you need to pour tomato juice into a saucepan, add one teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of honey (if you are completely against it, you can replace it with sugar) and 50 grams of vegetable oil.
If you don’t have tomato juice, you can dilute the tomato with the required amount of water.
Send the garlic squeezed out through a press there. You can also grate it on a fine grater, or simply chop it with a knife.
3. Place the chopped peppers in the tomato mixture and put the pan on the fire. Be sure to cover the container with a lid.
4. When the contents boil, you need to add two tablespoons of vinegar, mix well and let simmer for another 15 minutes. During this time, the pieces should soften slightly.
Why should vinegar be introduced at this stage? If you add it at the beginning, it may dissipate. And if at the very end, the vegetables may not have time to soak in it.
5. While our appetizer is simmering on the fire, you can sterilize the jars and lids. This can be done either steamed or any way.
6. Without turning off the heat, but making it minimal, fill the jars one by one with the aromatic contents and immediately tighten them. Don’t forget to put the filled container under the blanket, turning it over and placing it on the lid. Wait until everything cools down, then put it away for storage.
This volume of ingredients yields three small jars of lecho. And there is still some delicious aromatic sauce left. It can be poured into a small jar and stored in the refrigerator.
You can cook first or second courses with it, or simply add it to pasta and eat it like.
Recipe for winter lecho with tomato juice
Thick, aromatic lecho is, of course, always very tasty. But there are eaters who especially love the sauce in it, so juicy and sweet and sour.
We have prepared a special recipe with tomato juice especially for them. This dish turns out to be more liquid, but no less appetizing.
Ingredients:
- Bell pepper 1 kg
- Tomato juice 2 liters
- Granulated sugar 3 tablespoons (heaped)
- Salt 2 tablespoons (or to taste)
- Citric acid on the tip of a spoon
Preparation:
1. Pour tomato juice into a large saucepan where the vegetable stock will be prepared. Add sugar and salt there and mix well.
You can use your own prepared juice, or buy it at the store. When purchasing it, make sure that it is 100% juice, completely natural, and preferably without any additives.
2. Cut the peppers into longitudinal strips, of course, after removing the stems and seeds. Place them immediately into the pan.
The cutting method can be any. Personally, I like to cut it quite large in this version, so that when we eat it, you can feel it.
Take red or orange fruits, they have already acquired both taste and aroma, and the finished product from such vegetables will be the most delicious.
3. Place the pan on the fire and bring the mixture to a boil. Moreover, the boiling process should be uniform over the entire area, and not in individual places.
It will take about 10 minutes to cook the contents. It is absolutely not necessary to stir, since the vegetables can become too soft and break, which is absolutely not what we want. Everything will cook perfectly evenly in the juice.
There are no onions or carrots here, so long-term heat treatment is not required.
4. By the time cooking is finished, the jars and lids should already be sterilized.
5. Lecho should be poured into jars while hot. First fill one of them, and immediately screw it on. Then the next one, and so on until everything is screwed in. Cover with metal lids.
At this time, we do not remove the pan with the contents from the heat; we set only its lowest value.
Place the finished preserves under the blanket on the lids and wait until it cools down. Then you can put the filled container in a cool, dark room.
This recipe is very simple, without any tricks or frills. But it is so tasty that every year you prepare a small batch of it.
What ratio of tomato paste and fresh tomatoes is used to prepare delicious lecho
The taste, aroma of any dish, as well as its consistency largely depends on the sauce. And if we are looking at lecho recipes today, the most important link is tomatoes. The taste of the snack itself will depend on how ripe, juicy, meaty and tasty they are.
Therefore, in this case, we always try to choose red, ripe tomatoes. They provide not only taste, but also color, which also plays an important role.
Prepare your favorite snack with ready-made tomato juice or tomato paste. Of course, preparing juice or paste yourself can take a long time. And not everyone has it, so they often use store-bought options.
In addition, homemade analogues usually turn out somewhat watery, and additional time is required to boil them to the desired consistency. This must be taken into account when cooking.
But tomato paste from the store, as a rule, is always thick and, on the contrary, requires dilution with water. In addition, it often has a rich sour taste, and some of its varieties are too sweet or salty. Therefore, you need to be careful here too.
However, its undoubted advantage is that the cooking time is reduced by at least half. After all, there is no need to evaporate it.
If you noticed, in all of today’s recipes I wrote that when purchasing, you should read the ingredients on the package and try to purchase a product with a neutral taste, without adding sour, sweet or salty ingredients. If you add pasta rich in flavor additives in its pure form, it will be impossible to eat the finished product.
Therefore, it is always necessary to dilute store-bought paste with water. As a rule, this is done at the rate of 1:3, or 1:2. This depends on the thickness of the purchased product, as well as your taste preferences.
And first of all, in any case, rely on your taste. Even if the recipe says that you should add a spoon or two of salt or sugar, add less at first, stir and taste. You can add flavoring additives at any time, but if you add too much, you can’t remove it.
If we compare the ratio of tomato paste to tomatoes, I can only do it approximately. I analyzed a number of recipes that use one or another product, and the variation turned out to be significant. Even if it concerns only tomatoes.
So, my analysis showed that for 1 kg of bell pepper you can take either 1 kg of tomatoes or 2. It all depends on how much sauce you would like to get in the appetizer.
For the same amount of vegetables, you usually take 250-300 grams of tomato paste, and dilute everything with about 1 liter of water (100 ml less is possible).
Although I have come across recipes where for 2 and 2.5 kg of vegetables you also need 300 grams of pasta and 900 ml of water. And one of the recipes even suggests taking 250 grams of paste and 750 ml of water for 3 kg of fruit.
There are recipes where only a kilogram of tomatoes is taken for 2 kg of pepper. That is, two times less than in the previous comparison.
The same situation applies to tomato juice. For 1 kg of vegetables you can take from 0.5 ml to 2 liters.
That is, when starting my research, I was going to find some kind of logical algorithm. But alas... I never managed to do this.
Therefore, friends, it is easier to follow the ready-made recipe. And take into account only the fact - how much sauce would you like to get? If you like the appetizer to have more peppers, then add less, and if you like to scoop up a thick, sweetish mixture with bread, then add a little more.
And that's all for me today. I hope you can choose the recipe you like. If you have your favorite recipes, share them in the comments. Let everyone be able to choose for themselves what they like.
It's great when people cook delicious food and share their experiences.
I wish everyone delicious preparations. And Bon Appetit!
Lecho is a wonderful invention of Hungarian cuisine. Initially, lecho was prepared using fresh tomatoes. They were twisted, rubbed through a sieve, then the resulting juice was boiled and pieces of sweet pepper were dipped into it. This procedure is quite long, so many recipes for lecho with tomato paste have appeared.
If you take high-quality tomato paste, your preparation for the winter will turn out very tasty and beautiful. Lecho is prepared with the addition of carrots, onions, and zucchini. Today we have lecho made from sweet pepper.
So, to prepare a classic lecho with tomato paste for the winter, we will need: pepper, tomato paste, vinegar, vegetable oil, salt and sugar. Garlic, hot pepper and spices - as you wish.
I draw your attention to the composition of tomato paste. It is very good if there is nothing extra in the composition, but only tomatoes, salt and sugar. My pasta contains only tomatoes; I buy it in one place from traders from Central Asia. If the paste already contains salt and sugar, adjust the taste of lecho yourself without following the recipe.
I diluted the thick tomato paste with water in a ratio of 1:3, but look at your paste. But the sauce should be quite thick, as can be seen from the photo: the peppers and cloves did not drown. You can tie the spices in a gauze bag and dip them into the sauce, and take them out at the end of cooking, then peas will not get into the lecho.
We put the sauce on the fire, and in the meantime wash it, remove the seeds and cut the bell pepper. You can cut into pieces, strips or strips - whatever you like. From 1 kg of pepper I got 800 g of peeled pepper.
Dip the pepper into the sauce. Don't worry if it's not all covered in liquid. During the cooking process, the entire pepper will be immersed in the sauce.
Bring the pepper to a boil, remove the foam.
Add salt, sugar and vegetable oil.
Cook lecho with tomato paste over medium heat for 20-25 minutes. Add finely chopped hot peppers and garlic.
We like it when the pepper in lecho remains a little firm, but if you want the pepper to be softer, increase the cooking time by 5-7 minutes. Add vinegar 5 minutes before the end of cooking. While the lecho is cooking, heat the glass jars in the oven or over steam. Place the finished lecho in hot dry jars and close the lids tightly. I got two jars of 0.5 liters and another 300 ml. Lecho with tomato paste is ready for the winter!
Turn the jars over and leave them under something warm until they cool. Store lecho with tomato paste in a cool place. In winter, such a wonderful preparation will remind you of summer. Help yourself!
