How tasty to cook Bulgarian lecho: a recipe for a tasty snack for the winter

In the summer, when in the cottages and kitchens in the midst of harvesting vegetables, it will not hurt to recall the Bulgarian lecho. Its recipe can consist of a variety of ingredients, but in the original it's only tomatoes, peppers and spices. Undoubtedly, the dish is intended not only for canning for the winter. It can be simply used as a side dish or instead of a sauce for the main course. But still, winter harvesting is more urgent.

Lecho in Bulgarian: recipe for beginners

The easiest way to create this traditional European preservation involves the use of ready-made tomato juice. Thanks to this ingredient, the cooking process is greatly simplified. It is for this reason that it is recommended for beginners. Before preparing a classic Bulgarian lecho (the recipe is presented below), it is better to practice on such a simpler one.

For a liter of tomato juice take 60 small peppers, a glass of sugar and 9 percent vinegar, 2 tablespoons of salt. To prepare lecho for the winter, you must first sterilize the cans (1 or 0.5 liters) and the lids. Then wash the Bulgarian pepper, release it from the seeds and cut into slices of medium size. In principle, you can cut it and smaller, but in this case the taste will not be so bright.

The next step is to prepare the marinade. In tomato juice add salt, sugar and vinegar, bringing it to a boil. Then pepper is sent there and boiled, stirring for 15 minutes (sometimes a little longer, it should become soft). As a result, you get a delicious and fragrant Bulgarian lecho (the recipe is really very simple), which will remain in the banks and close. After cooling to room temperature, they must be stored in a dark cool place.

Bulgarian lecho for the winter (classic way of cooking)

Having mastered the previous version, you can use a more complex recipe. For a kilo of Bulgarian pepper (recommended to use green or yellow) take 4 kg of ripe (you can even slightly overripe) tomatoes, as well as a handful of chopped parsley. Still need salt (tablespoon), sugar (2 tablespoons), a few laurel leaves.

First you need to peel the tomatoes. To do this, they are filled with boiling water, then placed in ice water, after which the process will be greatly facilitated. Next, peel the peppers, removing the stems and removing the seeds. Vegetables are cut into cubes of medium size and boiled in deep aluminum (or enameled) containers for 20 minutes. Then add the spices and herbs, bring to a boil and lay out on sterile jars. Of this amount of products, about 4.5 liters of lecho are obtained. Banks are closed and sent for safekeeping.

Bulgarian lecho: a recipe with carrots

This is no longer a classic, but rather a variation on the theme of "preserving everything that was at hand", but it turns out quite tasty. For 3 kg of tomatoes take 2 kg of Bulgarian pepper (the color here does not matter), and 500 grams of carrots with onions. You will also need half a glass of vinegar, a glass of vegetable oil, 100 grams of sugar and 50 grams of salt (you can change the amount to taste).

Tomatoes are cleaned in a manner similar to the previous recipe and passed through a meat grinder. Onion and carrots are cleaned, and pepper is washed and freed from seeds. Then the ground tomatoes are combined with butter, salt, sugar and brought to a boil. Then reduce the heat and cook the marinade for 15 minutes (after pour vinegar and cook as much as the same). During this time, you need to prepare the rest of the vegetables. Pepper is cut into cubes, onion - half rings, and carrots are ground with straws (it is possible on a grater).

In the marinade, vegetables are added alternately. First comes carrots, after 10 minutes - onion, and at the end (after 5 minutes) - pepper. The resulting mass is boiled for about half an hour, periodically mixing, and then closed in sterile jars. It turns out something in between lecho and Kuban salad.