In winter, fresh vegetables are quite difficult to get. And those that exist usually have no taste, and are quite expensive. Therefore, at the end of the summer season, housewives begin to roll up for the winter. Most often these are pickled and pickled vegetables, as well as a variety of salads. Most housewives prepare lecho for the winter. This salad consists mainly of tomatoes and peppers. You can also add onions, garlic and carrots to it. This seemingly sparse composition gives the product a wonderful sourish-spicy taste.
But every year more and more new options for preparing lecho appear. For example, many people praise this salad with the addition of apples or zucchini. But he received the most positive reviews lecho recipe from eggplants for the winter. Let's look at the option of preparing it, and also learn some of the subtleties of the process itself.
Important Features
Cooking eggplant lecho is not much different from the classic recipe, which uses tomatoes and bell peppers. The only thing is that this version contains a wider variety of additives. You can throw a variety of herbs and spices here. For example, many people add dill, bay leaf, garlic and black pepper to the salad.
In addition to such aromatic additives, table vinegar must be present in the preparation. It is he who is responsible for the preservation of the treatment for a long time.In addition, vinegar gives the dish a special sourness, which only improves the taste of lecho. It is important to be very responsible when choosing vegetables for lecho. They must be ripe and fresh. You cannot use old large eggplants for salad.
Old eggplants are not only tough, but also somewhat dangerous. With age, solanine, which is a poison, accumulates in fruits. It is this substance that gives eggplants a bitter taste. Also, the amount of solanine can be determined by the appearance of the fruits themselves. If the pulp quickly changes color at the cut site, it means that the concentration of solanine is quite high.
For this reason, it is better to use young fruits. But old eggplants can also be used in cooking. They are simply chopped and sprinkled with salt. In this form, the vegetables should stand for some time. Solanine will also be released along with the secreted juice. Such fruits can be eaten without fear, but you will need to salt them carefully so as not to overdo it. Now let’s look at recipes for eggplant lecho for the winter.
Eggplant lecho for the winter
To prepare lecho with eggplant, tomatoes and peppers we will need:
- small young eggplants - one kilogram;
- red fleshy tomatoes - half a kilogram;
- bell pepper of any color - half a kilogram;
- onions - two pieces;
- garlic - five cloves;
- ground paprika - one teaspoon;
- granulated sugar - two tablespoons;
- salt - one teaspoon;
- 6% table vinegar - two tablespoons;
- sunflower oil - about 60 ml.
It is necessary to prepare jars and lids for lecho in advance. First of all, they are washed with soda, and then sterilized over steam or in boiled water.It is very important that the jars are completely dry by the time you need to pour the salad. Otherwise, the remaining water may cause fermentation.
Tomatoes for lecho are washed in water and the stems are removed. Next, the fruits are crushed in any convenient way. The fastest way to do this is with a blender or meat grinder. Then the bell peppers are washed and peeled. It is cut in half and all seeds and stalks are removed. Now the pepper is cut into large pieces of any shape.
Next, start preparing the eggplants. They, like all other vegetables, are washed under running water. After this, the stems of the fruit are cut off and cut into cubes or slices. The size of the pieces doesn't matter. The onion is peeled from dry husks and cut into half rings. You can simply crush the garlic using a press or finely chop it with a knife.
Pour vegetable oil into a cauldron prepared for lecho, heat it and throw in onions. When it becomes soft, add tomato paste to the pan. Mix the onion and paste until smooth and bring to a boil. Now sugar, salt, dry paprika and pepper are thrown into the lecho.
Bring the salad back to a boil and add garlic and eggplant. Simmer the mixture over low heat for 30 minutes. A few minutes before it is completely ready, pour table vinegar into the lecho and stir. When the mass boils again, turn it off and begin to pour into sterilized containers. Then the jars are turned over and covered with a warm blanket. In this form, the salad should stand for at least a day. After which the lecho is moved to a cold room for further storage.
Conclusion
Now you can easily prepare delicious and aromatic eggplant lecho. As you can see, the components of this preparation may vary depending on taste preferences. But basically lecho consists of the simplest and most accessible vegetables. For example, from tomatoes, sweet peppers, garlic and onions. Many people like to add various herbs and spices to lecho. And adding eggplants here, you get an incredible salad, you’ll just lick your fingers. Try to surprise and pamper your family and friends.
when to add garlic?))
That's it, I found it, thanks for the recipe