Lecho is one of those dishes that few people can resist, unless the person is allergic to tomatoes or sweet peppers. After all, these vegetables are fundamental in preparation recipes. Although lecho originally came to us from Hungarian cuisine, its composition and cooking recipes have changed, sometimes beyond recognition. In the difficult climatic conditions of Russia, where winter sometimes lasts more than six months, lecho has turned into a fireworks display of autumn-summer vegetables and herbs, seasoned with spices, based on the preferences of the hostess, stunning in aroma and taste. And, of course, it is, first of all, prepared in large quantities for winter storage in order to be able to enjoy its beauty, taste and aroma all year round.
If you have your own plot and tomatoes grow in large quantities on it, then you will probably make lecho from fresh vegetables. But many people prefer to prepare lecho according to a simplified recipe, using freshly prepared or even purchased tomato juice. But lecho with tomato juice, despite the simplicity of its preparation, remains one of the most delicious varieties of this dish prepared for the winter.
The simplest recipe
The recipe below is not only the simplest in preparation and the number of ingredients used.In lecho prepared according to this recipe with tomato juice, the bell pepper retains its pleasant density and elasticity, as well as a greater amount of vitamins, which is very important in the harsh winter. Despite the fact that sterilization is not used during the preparation process, the amount of vinegar in the marinade is sufficient for the product to be well preserved under normal storage conditions.
All you need is:
- 3 kg of high quality bell pepper;
- 1 liter of tomato juice;
- 180 g granulated sugar;
- 60 g salt;
- Half a glass of 9% table vinegar.
It is very important to use fresh, juicy peppers for cooking, preferably just picked, with fleshy, thick walls. It can be any color. Red, orange, and yellow peppers make not only tasty and medicinal, but also a very beautiful dish.
You can use store-bought tomato juice, or you can squeeze it out of your own tomatoes using a juicer.
According to this recipe for lecho with tomato juice for the winter, you should get about three liters of finished product.
First you need to wash and free the pepper fruits from seeds, stalks and internal partitions. You can cut the peppers in any convenient way, depending on your preferences. Some people like to cut it into cubes, others into strips or rings.
After cutting, pour boiling water over the pepper so that all the pieces are hidden under water and leave to steam for 3-4 minutes.
At the same time, you can prepare the marinade. To do this, in a large, thick-bottomed saucepan, stir tomato juice with salt and sugar and bring everything to a boil. Add vinegar.
Meanwhile, place the steamed pepper pieces in a colander and shake off excess moisture. Carefully pour the peppers from a colander into the pan with the marinade, boil and cook while stirring for about 5 minutes. Lecho with tomato juice is ready. All that remains is to immediately put it into pre-prepared sterilized jars and seal with lids. There is no need to wrap the jars to prevent the pepper from becoming too soft.
Some housewives, making bell pepper lecho with tomato juice according to this recipe, add 1 more head of garlic and 100 ml of vegetable oil to the ingredients.
Try making lecho using both options, and choose the taste that you and your family like best.
Lecho “multi-colored assorted”
This lecho recipe for the winter with tomato juice is also quite simple, but much richer in the composition of ingredients, which means its taste will be distinguished by its originality and uniqueness.
What you will need to find:
- Tomato juice – 2 liters;
- Sweet bell pepper, peeled and chopped – 3 kg;
- Onions – 0.5 kg;
- Carrots – 0.5 kg;
- Dill and parsley – 100 g;
- Vegetable oil – 200 ml;
- Cumin - a pinch;
- Granulated sugar – 200 grams;
- Rock salt – 50 grams;
- Vinegar essence 70% – 10 ml.
The peppers must be washed well, cut into two halves and all internal contents removed from the fruit: seeds, tails, soft partitions. Peel the onion, wash the carrots and remove the thin skin with a vegetable peeler.
At the second stage of preparation, the pepper is cut into strips, the onion into thin rings, and the carrots are grated on a coarse grater. The greens are washed, cleared of plant debris and finely chopped.
All cooked and chopped vegetables and herbs are transferred to a large saucepan and filled with tomato juice. Salt, cumin, vegetable oil and sugar are added. The pan with the future lecho is placed on the fire, and the mixture is heated until boiling bubbles appear. After boiling, the lecho must be boiled for another ten minutes. Then vinegar essence is added to the pan, the mixture is boiled again and immediately placed in hot sterilized jars. After sealing the jars, turn them upside down to self-sterilize.
Lecho without vinegar
Many people absolutely cannot tolerate the presence of vinegar in their preparations. Of course, we can advise using in such cases citric acid or another vinegar substitute, but the problem usually lies in intolerance to any acid in winter preparations. A way out of this situation can be found if you use a recipe for lecho prepared with tomato juice without vinegar, but with sterilization for the winter. Below we describe in detail the features of manufacturing such a blank.
It is better to prepare the tomato juice for this preservation yourself to be completely sure of its quality. There are two main ways to make it:
- The first is the simplest - using a juicer. The ripest, sweetest, preferably fleshy tomatoes are selected and passed through a juicer. If you don't have a juicer, you can grind the tomatoes through a meat grinder.
- The second method is used in the absence of any kitchen appliances.To do this, cut the tomatoes into small pieces, having previously cut out the place where they attach to the branch, and place them in a flat enamel container. After adding a little water, put it on low heat and stirring constantly, cook until completely soft. After cooling slightly, the resulting mass is rubbed through a sieve, thus separating the skin and seeds.
About one liter of tomato juice is obtained from one and a half kilograms of tomatoes.
The peppers are washed and cleaned of all excess. Cut into pieces of convenient size and shape. For one liter of tomato juice, one and a half kilograms of peeled and chopped sweet pepper should be prepared.
Tomato juice is placed in a saucepan and brought to the boiling point. Then add 50 grams of salt and sugar to it and sprinkle chopped bell pepper on top. The mixture is gently stirred, heated until boiling and boiled for another 15-20 minutes.
While the lecho is being prepared, the jars must be sterilized and the lids must be boiled for at least 15 minutes. The finished lecho must be placed in a prepared glass container so that the tomato juice completely covers the peppers. You can sterilize lecho in boiling water, but it is more convenient to use a convection oven for this purpose.
In boiling water, half-liter jars are covered with lids on top and sterilized for 30 minutes, and liter jars for 40 minutes.
In an air fryer, sterilization time at a temperature of +260°C will take no more than 10 minutes. You can also sterilize jars with lids, but the sealing rubber bands must be removed from the latter during sterilization to avoid damage.
If you decide to sterilize at a temperature of +150°C, then one liter jars will require 15 minutes of sterilization.Moreover, at this temperature, the rubber bands can not be removed from the lids.
After sterilization, the finished lecho is sealed, turned upside down and cooled.
Here are only the basic recipes for making lecho with tomato juice. Any housewife, taking them as a basis, will be able to diversify the composition of the lecho according to her taste.
