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Lecho is a dish originally from Hungary, which has long been a favorite of domestic housewives. To prepare it, various recipes are used, including traditional ones, with bell peppers and tomatoes, and modernized ones, which are not a completely standard set of products. So, for many housewives, recipes without tomatoes are preferred. They are based only on pepper and various components for the marinade. Recipes for making lecho for the winter without tomatoes can be found below in the article. Using them, you can prepare a large amount of pepper even if the tomatoes are not grown in the garden, and you don’t want to use tomato paste at all.
The best recipes without tomatoes
In lecho recipes without tomatoes, the main difference is the preparation of the marinade. It can be oily, honey and even orange. The marinade may contain vinegar and various seasonings that make its taste special. Some cooking recipes contain secrets, without which canned peppers will not turn out as tasty as expected. You can take into account all the features of preparation if you select the ingredients in a certain quantity and accurately carry out all the necessary manipulations.
Lecho with added oil and vinegar
Quite often, tomato paste, juice or simply grated tomatoes in lecho are replaced with vegetable oil. Such recipes have a slightly bland taste, but vinegar and a certain set of spices help correct the situation.
One of the best recipes for lecho with oil and vinegar recommends using the following set of ingredients: for 5 kg of pepper, 200 ml of vegetable oil, half a glass of sugar and the same amount of vinegar 9%, 40 g of salt and a dozen black peppercorns.
Preparing this lecho is quite simple, following these recommendations:
- Cut bell peppers, preferably red, in half lengthwise and remove the grains and membranes from the cavity. Then cut the vegetable into half rings, 5-10 mm thick.
- Sprinkle salt, sugar and vinegar on the chopped peppers. Mix the resulting mixture with your hands and leave in the kitchen at room temperature for 50-60 minutes.
- The next ingredient is oil. It needs to be added to the general mixture of ingredients and the lecho must be mixed well again.
- Prepare the jar by sterilizing in the oven or steaming.
- Place a few peppercorns at the bottom of the jars. It is recommended to use 15 peas per liter jar of product.
- Place lecho in butter sauce into clean jars with peppercorns. When filling the container, bell peppers should be placed as compactly as possible, without leaving any air voids.
- Pour the remaining butter sauce into jars over the peppers.
- Cover the filled containers with a lid and sterilize. If the lecho is placed in liter jars, then they need to be sterilized for 15 minutes; for half-liter containers this time can be reduced to 10 minutes.
- Roll up the lecho after sterilization. Wrap the inverted jars in a warm blanket for a day.
The recipe allows you to preserve very tasty lecho for the whole winter. During the sterilization process, the pepper will release its juice, which will complement the taste of the other marinade ingredients with its unique aroma. You can eat lecho with vegetable oil and vinegar in combination with meat products, potatoes or bread.
Lecho in honey marinade
This excellent recipe allows you to prepare delicious bell peppers for the whole winter. Its main difference and at the same time taste advantage is the use of natural honey in the preparation of the marinade. Unfortunately, artificial honey or even sugar cannot replace a natural ingredient, so you should make sure the quality of the product before cooking.
To implement this recipe, you need to use 4 kg of bell peppers and 250 g of natural honey. To prepare the marinade you will also need 500 ml of oil and the same amount of vinegar 9%, a liter of water, 4 tbsp. l. salt. At first glance, it may seem that all of the listed products are incompatible, but in order to appreciate their combined harmonious taste, you only need to try excellent lecho once.
Prepare lecho without tomato paste and tomatoes as follows:
- Remove seeds and stems from the pepper. Cut small vegetables in half, large ones into quarters.
- Blanch the pepper pieces in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then place the vegetables in a colander to remove excess moisture.
- While the vegetables are drying, you can start cooking the marinade. To do this, you need to dilute honey in warm water and add all the remaining ingredients to the resulting solution.If desired, in addition to salt, vinegar and oil, you can include various spices and herbs to taste in the marinade. Boil the marinade for 3 minutes.
- Place the pepper pieces into pre-prepared jars and pour in the hot marinade.
- Preserve the finished product.
When preparing lecho according to the proposed recipe, it is very important to prepare a tasty marinade, so during the cooking process it is recommended to taste it and, if necessary, add some ingredients. Overall, the recipe allows you to preserve the freshness and natural taste of bell peppers and natural honey.
Orange lecho
This recipe is one of the most original. It combines truly incompatible products: garlic and orange. It’s hard to even imagine the range of flavors that can be achieved using these products. But the opinion of experienced chefs in this case is clear: “It’s worth a try!” Orange lecho is an excellent winter preparation without tomatoes for the winter, which can surprise every taster.
To prepare orange lecho you will need bell pepper. For one recipe you need to take 12-14 vegetables, depending on their size. The required amount of garlic is 10 cloves, you also need to use 3 oranges, 50 g ginger, 150 ml oil, 70 g each of sugar and 9% vinegar, 2 tbsp. l. salt. All these ingredients together can delight you with their summer taste even in the coldest winter.
Lecho prepared according to the proposed recipe can be preserved for the winter or eaten during the season. The preparation process does not change much depending on the purpose of the product:
- Prepare the ginger. Peel it, wash it and chop it. You can grind it using a grater or knife.If you decide to cut the product, you need to make sure that the plates are thin, literally transparent.
- Chop the garlic quite coarsely. Each clove can be divided into 5-6 parts.
- Pour oil into a deep frying pan or cauldron and fry the ginger and garlic. This will take literally 2-3 minutes.
- Cut the seeded pepper into cubes or strips. Add them to the frying pan over low heat.
- Squeeze the juice from the oranges and pour it into the prepared vegetable mixture.
- Add salt and sugar along with the juice and mix the lecho thoroughly, then cover it with a tight lid.
- The mixture of ingredients needs to simmer for 15-20 minutes. During this time, the pepper pieces will become soft.
- As soon as the first signs of readiness appear, you need to add vinegar to the lecho. If necessary, add the missing spices to the vegetable mixture to taste. After 1-2 minutes, the lecho can be put into jars and rolled up.
Orange lecho can surprise and delight every taster with its taste. Every housewife can prepare such a preparation, showing off her knowledge and skills.
Lecho in brine
This recipe allows you to preserve delicious, aromatic lecho for the winter without tomato paste or tomatoes. The recipe is based on the preparation of brine, which will give the bell peppers a sweet and sour taste.
To preserve such a winter preparation you will need 2.5 kg of fleshy bell peppers, 15 cloves of garlic (the amount of garlic can be increased depending on the number of canned jars), a liter of water, 4 tbsp. l. salt, 0.5 tbsp. butter, 170 g sugar and 3 tbsp. l. 70% vinegar.
Preparation of lecho with brine consists of the following steps:
- Grind the cleanly washed and seeded bell pepper into strips.
- Cut the garlic into medium-sized pieces.
- Prepare clean, sterilized jars. Put pepper and garlic in them. Products must be compacted as much as possible so as to fill all voids in the container.
- Prepare the brine by adding all the remaining ingredients to 1 liter of water.
- Fill jars with pepper with hot brine and sterilize them in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Next, roll up the lecho and store it in a cellar or pantry.
The recipe is extremely simple and accessible even to an inexperienced housewife. As a result of this preparation, you will get tasty and tender, aromatic peppers for the winter, which will complement main dishes, salads and side dishes.
Spicy lecho with tomato juice
Lecho without tomatoes is often prepared with the addition of tomato juice. One of these recipes allows you to prepare wonderful canned hot peppers with the addition of carrots and garlic.
To prepare this lecho you will need 2 kg of bell peppers, 1 kg of fresh carrots, 3 chili peppers, a head of garlic, 2 tbsp. l. vinegar and the same amount of salt, half a glass of sugar. The pepper marinade will be prepared using 2 liters of tomato juice.
You can prepare lecho without tomatoes by following these steps:
- Peel and cut the carrots into thin strips (you can grate them).
- Place the carrots in a deep container, fill it with juice, salt and sugar.
- Chop the chili pepper as finely as possible and add it to the pan with the rest of the vegetables.
- Boil the resulting marinade for 15 minutes.
- Add bell pepper, cut into strips, to the marinade.
- Cook the lecho until the pepper becomes soft. As a rule, this takes no more than 15 minutes. A few minutes before the end of cooking, add crushed or finely chopped garlic and vinegar to the pan.
- Preserve the finished lecho while hot in sterilized jars.
This recipe is perfect for spicy food lovers. Its preparation combines chili peppers, garlic and sugar in a special way. You should definitely try this combination, appreciating the interesting taste and benefits of the product. Acute treatment will warm you in the cold winter and “share” a certain amount of vitamins.
Choosing lecho recipe without tomato paste and tomatoes, you should pay attention to another cooking option, which is shown in the video:
This video allows you not only to familiarize yourself with the list of necessary ingredients, but also to clearly appreciate the ease and simplicity of preparing such a winter preparation.
Conclusion
The proposed recipes for lecho without tomato paste and tomatoes best demonstrate the taste of bell peppers. Various seasonings only complement this vegetable, making winter preparation more interesting and richer. You can use the recipes if the taste of tomatoes is undesirable or if you are allergic to tomatoes and tomato paste. Sometimes the lack of tomatoes in the garden is also a reason to preserve lecho without adding them. In general, whatever the reason, having prepared lecho according to the recipes described above, every housewife will probably be satisfied with the result.
