Bulgarian lecho: recipe

Content

1 Traditional lecho in Bulgarian
2 Unconventional recipe for lecho in Bulgarian
3 Some secrets of preparing lecho
4 Conclusion

Despite the name, lecho in Bulgarian is a traditional Hungarian dish. This preparation for the winter preserves the wonderful taste and aroma of fresh bell pepper. This recipe is a classic. It consists of just a few ingredients. Apart from tomatoes and sweet peppers, there are no other vegetables in it. In addition, some spices are also added to lecho.

Bulgarian lecho can be added to stews, used as an addition to the main dish, or eaten as a separate dish. Below you will see traditional and non-traditional lecho recipe in Bulgarian.

Traditional lecho in Bulgarian

It is very important to pay attention to the quality of the vegetables themselves. It depends on them how tasty the salad turns out. Peppers for harvesting should not be overripe. We choose only ripe and juicy fruits. Pepper can be absolutely any color. But most often it is the red varieties that are chosen. But the tomatoes may be slightly overripe, but they should not be rotten. Choose soft, bright red fruits.

To prepare classic Hungarian leczo you will need:

ripe soft tomatoes – three kilograms;
bell pepper – two kilograms;
salt – about 40 grams;
granulated sugar - about 70 grams;
allspice peas – 5 pieces;
cloves - 4 pieces;
black peppercorns – 5 pieces;
apple cider vinegar 6% – 1.5 tablespoons.

Now you can begin the cooking process. To do this, you need to peel and chop the vegetables. Wash the bell peppers, cut them in half, remove all the seeds and cut out the stalks. Next, the fruits are cut lengthwise into large slices. The tomatoes should also be washed, the stems and, if desired, the skin removed. But you can immediately chop the tomatoes using a food processor or meat grinder. The resulting tomato mass is poured into a large container and placed on fire. After the tomato puree boils, cook it for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming off the foam with a slotted spoon. Now it's time to throw in the chopped peppers. The mixture is brought to a boil again.

Attention! After a few minutes, the bell pepper will begin to shrink in volume.

Then add all the spices to the dish and simmer over low heat for another 15 minutes. During this time, the pepper should become soft. Check readiness with a fork. A few minutes before complete readiness, pour apple cider vinegar into the container.

Important! Before you roll up the salad, taste it for salt and pepper. If something is missing, you can add it while the cooking process is not over.

Next, the salad is poured into prepared sterilized jars and rolled up. The first day the workpiece should be turned over and wrapped in a blanket. After complete cooling, the containers are moved to the cellar or any cool room. The Hungarians themselves eat lecho as an independent dish. Chicken eggs or smoked meats can be added to it. In our country, this salad is eaten as an appetizer or as an addition to side dishes.

Unconventional recipe for lecho in Bulgarian

The Russians tried to create their own version of lecho, adding only a few new ingredients to it. So, the Russian version of lecho is prepared from the following products:

fresh fleshy tomatoes - one kilogram;
ripe bell pepper of any color - two kilograms;
a bunch of cilantro and dill;
garlic – from 8 to 10 cloves;
refined vegetable oil - one glass;
ground black pepper - one teaspoon;
onions (medium size) – 4 pieces;
granulated sugar - one glass;
dry ground paprika - one teaspoon;
table vinegar - one teaspoon;
salt (to taste).

We start preparing the preparation by chopping vegetables. We clean and cut the peppers as in the previous recipe. Then peel the onion and cut it into half rings. Wash fresh tomatoes and cut into large pieces. Now put a large frying pan on the fire and start adding vegetables one by one. The onion is thrown into the pan first; it must be brought to a transparent state. After this, add the chopped tomatoes and simmer over low heat in their own juice for 20 minutes.

After this, throw the prepared pepper into the frying pan and continue to cook the lecho for another 5 minutes. After this time, remove the lid from the pan and continue to simmer the salad for another 10 minutes. All this time, the workpiece should be stirred so that it does not stick to the bottom.

Now it's time to add finely chopped garlic, apple cider vinegar and sugar to the dish. Cook for another 20 minutes. The last thing to add is chopped greens. With it, the lecho should boil for a few more minutes and you can turn it off. Now the workpiece can be poured into containers and rolled up.

Attention! You need to store the salad in the same way as classic lecho.

Some secrets of preparing lecho

Whatever lecho recipe you use, the following tips will definitely come in handy:

It is better to roll salads into small jars of 0.5 or 1 liter.
The chopped vegetables should be approximately the same size.This salad will look much more attractive and appetizing.
If the salad recipe contains vinegar, then you need to use only enamel dishes. Also, it should not have any cracks or other defects.

Conclusion

Now you know for sure that Bulgarian lecho for the winter is a Hungarian dish with a very simple composition and a quick cooking process. This preparation preserves not only the aroma of fresh vegetables, but also the taste, as well as some vitamins.