Bulgarian eggplants: recipes for the winter

Bulgarian eggplant for the winter is an excellent vegetable appetizer, which is usually prepared for future use at the end of summer or early autumn. This popular canned salad is based on a recipe for lecso - a classic Hungarian dish of sweet peppers stewed with tomatoes and onions. This kind of snack has long been favored by the neighbors of the Hungarians and Bulgarians, but the latter traditionally prepare this dish, diversifying it with another key component - eggplants.

There are many variations on the theme of eggplant in Bulgarian. The main ingredient is cut into circles, cubes or even baked, then kneaded into a homogeneous mass, then mixed with other vegetables or layered with tomato-onion sauce, adding herbs, chili, garlic. The result of any of these recipes is an excellent winter salad, rich, bright and extremely appetizing.

Rules for preparing eggplants in Bulgarian for the winter

Whatever recipe for Bulgarian eggplant the housewife chooses, it is very important to take the ingredients responsibly:

• eggplants should be large, fleshy, with evenly colored, dark, shiny skin, without flaws or rotten places;
• It is better to prefer tomatoes that are juicy and ripe, perhaps even a little overripe;
• ideally, if the bell pepper is red: in this case, the color of the finished salad will be the most appetizing.

Eggplants for Bulgarian preparations should be ripe, fleshy and without visible flaws

It often happens that the eggplant pulp is very bitter. To eliminate this unpleasant effect, before slicing, it is advisable to immerse whole washed fruits in salted water for half an hour and press down on top with a weight, preventing them from floating. Then the vegetables need to be washed in clean water and then proceed in accordance with the recipe.

Classic Bulgarian eggplant recipe

The classic Bulgarian tradition of preparing eggplants with vegetables for the winter is the thick “Manjo” salad. Its peculiarity is the simultaneous extinguishing of all ingredients, and an additional advantage is that the jars with the preparation do not need to be sterilized.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. Rinse the eggplants well. Cut off the “tails” on both sides, cut into circles approximately 1.5 cm thick.
2. Peel the bell pepper and onion. Cut into small strips.
3. Scald the tomatoes with boiling water and remove the skin. Puree using a blender or meat grinder.
4. Grind the peeled carrots, garlic cloves and a slice of hot pepper into a puree.
5. Place all vegetables in a large saucepan. Add salt, sugar, vegetable oil, black pepper, vinegar.
6. Place the pan on the stove and, bringing the salad to a boil, simmer over low heat for 40 minutes.
7. Fill prepared sterile jars with a capacity of 0.5-1 liters with a hot snack. Roll up the boiled lids, turn upside down and, wrapping them up, leave until completely cool.

Traditional Bulgarian preparation for the winter, “Manjo” salad with eggplant, tomato and sweet pepper, will appeal even to gourmets

It is still better to cook mature, thick-skinned vegetables in Bulgarian style without peeling.

The process of preparing the Bulgarian Manjo salad is illustrated in detail by the video recipe: https://youtu.be/79zwFJk8DEk

Bulgarian eggplants for the winter without sterilization

Those who like to preserve vegetable snacks are often frightened by the need to additionally sterilize containers with preparations in a bath of boiling water. However, lecho with eggplant in Bulgarian can be prepared without this labor-intensive and difficult procedure.

Ingredients

Preparation:

1. Wash the eggplants, remove the “tails” and cut into bars 1-1.5 cm thick.
2. Chop the peeled carrots into thin slices (4-5 mm).
3. Remove the seeds from the bell pepper and cut the pulp into small strips.
4. Peel the onion. Cut into half rings.
5. Divide the tomatoes into 4-6 wedges and pass through a meat grinder.
6. Place carrots on the bottom of a cast iron pot or pan with thick walls. Pour in tomato puree and vegetable oil, stir.
7. Bring to a boil and cook over low heat for about half an hour.
8. Add onion and bell pepper to the pan. Stir carefully and wait until the mixture boils.
9. Add eggplant pieces. Season with salt, sugar, spices. Stir and after boiling, cook for another half hour without covering.
10. 5 minutes before turning off the heat, add the pressed garlic, bay leaf and vinegar to the pan. Mix.
11. Place hot Bulgarian-style lecho into half-liter jars, previously sterilized. Seal tightly with lids and soak for a couple of minutes in boiling water. Turn it upside down, carefully wrap it with a thick cloth and leave it for about a day.

Bulgarian lecho for the winter is prepared with eggplants and does not require additional sterilization

Bulgarian eggplants with herbs and garlic for the winter

Among the best recipes for Bulgarian eggplants for the winter are multi-layer canned food, in which the main ingredient, cut into appetizing circles, alternates with thick “minced meat” of fried onions, meaty tomatoes, spicy garlic puree and finely chopped fresh herbs.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. Wash the eggplants thoroughly and trim off the ends. Cut into thick discs (1.-2 cm).
2. Place the mugs in a concentrated solution of table salt (120 g per 1 liter of water) for 5 minutes.
3. Place in a colander, wait for excess water to drain, and fry in heated vegetable oil on both sides until golden brown.
4. Chop the peeled onion into thin slices. Fry evenly until yellow-brown.
5. Remove the stems from the tomatoes, cut into slices for convenience and puree using a meat grinder. Heat the resulting mass to a boil on the stove and rub through a sieve (you can use a blender), then boil it to half its volume.
6. Peel and crush the garlic using a press.
7. Wash the greens and chop finely.
8. Mix onions, garlic and herbs with tomato mixture. Season with salt, pepper, stir and heat until boiling.
9. Warm up clean, dry half-liter jars a little. Place a small layer of tomato and onion mixture on the bottom, then add slices of fried eggplant. Repeat layers until the jar is full (the top layer should be tomato).
10. Cover the jars with boiled tin lids. Place in a wide container with warm water and, bringing it to a boil, sterilize for 50 minutes, then roll up.

Bulgarian eggplants can also be prepared in the form of pucks, layered with tomato sauce with herbs, onions and garlic

Spicy eggplants in Bulgarian style with hot pepper

Spicy Bulgarian eggplants with the addition of chili can be prepared not by frying, but by baking the vegetables in the oven. In this case, the dish will be more healthy, and the oil consumption will be less.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. Cut the washed eggplants, from which both “tails” have been removed, into thick circles (2 cm each).
2. Prepare a salt solution as in the previous recipe. Place eggplant pucks in it for 20-30 minutes. Then squeeze lightly, place in a deep bowl, pour in 50 g of vegetable oil and mix.
3. Place in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet and bake in the oven until golden brown (about 7 minutes per side).
4. Fry the onion in the remaining vegetable oil for about 20 minutes, being careful not to burn it.
5. Using a blender, prepare a puree of tomatoes, garlic cloves and chili pods, cleared of seeds. Add salt, sugar, ground pepper. Boil the sauce for half an hour, then add fried onions and finely chopped fresh herbs to it. To stir thoroughly.
6. Layer tomato sauce and eggplant slices into pre-sterilized 0.5-liter jars, making sure that the top layer is the sauce.
7. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Place jars of eggplants in Bulgarian style on it, cover them with lids. Place in a cold oven, pouring a small amount of water into the bottom of the pan. Set the temperature to 100-110 °C and sterilize the canned food for an hour.
8. Seal the jars hermetically, turn them over, wrap them and let cool.

Eggplant slices for canning for the winter according to the Bulgarian recipe can not be pre-fried, but baked in the oven

Advice! If the oven is equipped with a grill, you should use it at the stage of roasting eggplants in Bulgarian style, then they will be ready faster.

Eggplant lyutenitsa in Bulgarian style for the winter

Lyutenitsa is a thick, scalding hot sauce for the winter in Bulgarian from baked eggplants “without skin” and sweet peppers, boiled in thick tomato puree with the addition of chili and garlic.

Ingredients:

Preparation:

1. Remove the stems from washed eggplants. Cut the vegetables lengthwise into 2 halves and bake in the oven for half an hour.
2. Carefully remove the skin from the cooled fruits and puree the pulp using a blender.
3. Place the washed bell peppers entirely on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Then place the fruits in a bowl, cover with cling film and leave for 10 minutes. After this, remove the outer skin from them and remove the seeds, and puree the pulp using a blender.
4. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then peel and grind until smooth. Pour the tomato puree into a stainless steel container, put it on the fire and, allowing it to boil, simmer for about half an hour.
5. Grind the peeled garlic cloves and chili pods without stems and seeds in a blender bowl.
6. Add eggplant and bell pepper puree to the pan with the tomatoes. Let the mixture boil. Add salt, sugar, ground chili and garlic and cook for another 10 minutes.
7. Turn off the heat and pour vinegar into the sauce. Mix.
8. Place the mixture in clean, dry 0.5-liter jars. Cover them with lids and sterilize in a water bath for 15 minutes. Roll up and leave until completely cool.

The hot, thick sauce lyutenitsa will surely delight lovers of spicy dishes.

Storage rules

It is recommended to store canned Bulgarian eggplants that have been sterilized in a dark place, possibly at room temperature. The period during which they should be consumed is 1-2 years. Canned vegetable salads, sealed without sterilization, can be stored for no more than a year.

Conclusion

Bulgarian eggplants for the winter can be prepared in different ways: in the form of lecho, the classic “Manzho” salad, spicy lyutenitsa sauce, an appetizer of whole circles in tomato and vegetable puree. Any of these canned dishes will be an excellent addition to a main dish or side dish and will diversify your holiday and everyday menu. It’s definitely worth a little effort at the height of the vegetable season to ensure that Bulgarian-style eggplants, served at the dinner table in winter, will please the whole family.

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