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How often do homemade preparations save us in winter? When you don’t have any time to cook, you can simply open a jar of a tasty and satisfying salad that will serve as a side dish for any dish. As such a preparation, you can prepare everyone’s favorite lecho salad. It consists mainly of tomatoes and bell peppers. In this article we will look at options for preparing a preparation with the addition of carrots. We’ll also experiment and instead of tomatoes, try adding tomato juice to one of the recipes. Let's see what wonderful preparations we can make.
Selection of products for lecho with carrots for the winter
To prepare a tasty and aromatic preparation, you need to listen to experienced masters of their craft. Let's start with choosing the ingredients. The taste and appearance of lecho depends on the choice of vegetables. Tomatoes for harvesting must be meaty and juicy. Such vegetables do not have any damage or stains. You can use tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes. Such a product must be of high quality and fresh, otherwise you can simply ruin the dish.
Sweet bell peppers can be of absolutely any color. But most often it is the red fruits that are used. They should not be too soft or overripe.Only dense and large peppers will do. Herbal lovers can add fresh or dried herbs to the lecho. Commonly used are parsley, cilantro, marjoram, basil and thyme.
The process of preparing classic lecho
I am very glad that preparing lecho does not require much time and effort. The classic version of lecho is prepared as follows:
- First you need to prepare the vegetables. Sweet bell peppers are washed and all seeds and core are removed. Then the vegetables are cut in any convenient way (half rings, large slices or strips).
- Remove the stems of the tomatoes and then remove the skin. To do this, immerse the tomatoes in boiling water for a couple of minutes, and then immediately place them under cold water. Now the skin will come off easily. Then the tomatoes are pureed using a blender or meat grinder. Some people do not grind the tomatoes, but simply cut them into pieces. In this case, lecho will look like a thick appetizer or salad, and with puree it will look more like a sauce.
- Then sunflower oil and grated tomatoes are poured into a large container. The mixture is simmered for 15 minutes. After this, add chopped bell pepper to the pan and bring the mixture to a boil.
- After the dish boils, you can add salt, spices and granulated sugar to the lecho. After this, the workpiece is simmered for half an hour over low heat. The salad needs to be stirred from time to time.
- Five minutes before complete readiness, add herbs and vinegar to the lecho.
- After 5 minutes, turn off the heat and begin to pour the salad into jars.
Thus, a classic version of lecho is prepared. But most housewives are accustomed to adding other ingredients to it.For example, lecho is often prepared with the addition of onions, carrots, garlic, eggplant, hot peppers, zucchini and celery. In addition, there are recipes for preparations with honey, horseradish, cloves and cinnamon.
Proper canning
In principle, canning lecho is no different from canning other preparations for the winter. To keep the salad well, you need to wash the jars well using baking soda. Then the containers along with the lids are sterilized in any way convenient for you and dried on a towel. Hot salad is poured into dry, sterilized jars and the lids are immediately rolled up.
The rolled up jars are turned over with their lids down and wrapped well. In this form, the lecho should stand for at least 24 hours until the workpiece has completely cooled. If the jars do not swell or leak, it means the process was completed correctly and the preservation will be stored for a long time.
Lecho recipe with carrots
You can prepare a delicious lecho from the following ingredients:
- bell pepper (preferably red) – 2 kg;
- carrots – half a kilogram;
- soft fleshy tomatoes – 1 kg;
- medium-sized onions - 4 pieces;
- garlic – 8 medium cloves;
- one bunch of cilantro and one bunch of dill;
- granulated sugar - glass;
- ground paprika and black pepper - one teaspoon each;
- sunflower oil - a glass;
- table vinegar 9% - 1 large spoon;
- table salt to taste.
Cooking process:
- The tomatoes are thoroughly washed under running water and peeled. How this can be done is discussed above. Then each tomato is cut into 4 slices.
- Sweet bell peppers are also washed and the stalk is cut out. Then all the seeds are removed from the pepper and cut into 4 slices, just like tomatoes.
- The onions are peeled, washed under running water and cut into thin half rings.
- The carrots are peeled, washed and cut into small cubes with a knife.
- To prepare lecho you need to prepare a cauldron or pan with a thick bottom. Pour sunflower oil into it and fry onions in it. When it loses its color, add chopped carrots to it.
- Next, chopped tomatoes are thrown into the pan. At this stage you should salt the dish.
- In this form, lecho is simmered for about 15 minutes over medium heat. If the tomatoes are very dense or not quite ripe, then the time should be extended by another 5 minutes.
- After this, chopped bell peppers are added to the salad and the same amount is simmered under the lid.
- Then remove the lid, reduce the heat to minimum and simmer the dish for another 10 minutes. The lecho may stick to the bottom, so do not forget to stir the salad regularly.
- Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the garlic. It can also be passed through a press. The garlic is thrown into the pan along with vinegar and sugar.
- The lecho is boiled for another 20 minutes, after which washed and finely chopped herbs, ground paprika and pepper are added. In this form, the salad simmers for the last 10 minutes.
- Now you can turn off the stove and start seaming the cans.
Lecho with carrots and tomato juice
To prepare the salad we will need:
- high-quality tomato juice – three liters;
- bell pepper (preferably red) – 2.5 kilograms;
- garlic - one head;
- carrots - three pieces;
- parsley - one bunch;
- fresh dill - one bunch;
- hot red pepper - one pod;
- table vinegar - 4 tablespoons;
- granulated sugar – 100 grams;
- sunflower oil – 200 milliliters;
- table salt – 2.5 tablespoons.
Preparation of lecho from carrots, tomato juice and pepper:
- Bell peppers are washed, seeded and stems are removed. Then it is cut into medium-sized strips.
- The carrots are peeled, washed and grated on the coarsest grater.
- Parsley and dill are washed under running water and finely chopped with a knife.
- Hot peppers cleared of seeds. The garlic is peeled and, together with hot pepper, passed through a meat grinder.
- Then all the prepared ingredients are transferred to a large saucepan and poured tomato juice. Only the vinegar is left (we will add it at the end).
- Place the pan on low heat and cook covered for half an hour. The salad is stirred from time to time so that it does not stick to the walls and bottom.
- 5 minutes before the lecho is ready, add vinegar and bring the salad to a boil again. Then remove the pan from the heat and immediately begin to pour the mixture into jars.
This option bell pepper lecho and the juice is prepared even faster, since there is no need to sort out and peel each tomato. Some people actually use diluted tomato paste instead of juice. But, it is better to prepare the salad with tomatoes or, in extreme cases, with tomato juice.
Conclusion
In winter, there is nothing better than homemade lecho made from tomatoes and bell peppers. You already know how to prepare lecho. As you can see, you can add not only the usual ingredients to it, but also carrots and onions, garlic and various herbs, ground paprika and even cloves. Thus, the salad becomes more aromatic and tasty. Be sure to please your family with homemade lecho with onions and carrots.
