Eggplant Lecho for Winter

A bit spicy, with an exquisite tang and barely noticeable sweetness - this fruit is so good that at the height of its harvest, it's essential to preserve eggplant lecho for the winter. The bright, meaty pieces of this salad will be a delightful treat to take out of the jar and share with loved ones, immersing them in summer memories.

Preparation time: 75 minutes + 10 hours the jars should sit in warmth under a blanket.

Yield: 2 jars of 0.650 l.

Caloric content: 62 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Cuisine: Hungarian.

Ingredients

• young eggplants - 500 g;
• bell pepper of any color - 300 g;
• sweet varieties of tomatoes - 700 g;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• white sugar - 25 g;
• odorless vegetable oil - 65 ml;
• juicy carrot - 125 g;
• rock salt - 20 g for the lecho and 2 tbsp for soaking the eggplants;
• 9% vinegar - 13 ml.

Preparation

1. Prepare the necessary ingredients.

2. Cut off the stems of the eggplants, then cut the fruit in half lengthwise, and then chop into fairly large pieces (approximately 2 cm thick).

3. Soak the pieces in a saline solution (2 tablespoons of rock salt per 2 liters of tap water).

4. To ensure the eggplants are completely submerged in the liquid, weigh them down with a light weight and leave them like this for half an hour. This way, the pieces will rid themselves of excess bitterness and will better absorb other vegetable juices.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients. Cut the carrot into sticks 0.5 x 2-2.5 cm.

6. Remove the seeds from the meaty bell pepper. Chop it coarsely.

7. Tomatoes are a very good preservative with a natural flavor. Cut the fruit in half without peeling the skin, and remove the stem area. Grate the flesh, pressing the half down with your hand on the skin side until all the flesh is grated off.

8. Place the pepper and carrot into a pot.

9. Also add the not-so-dry pieces of eggplant.

10. Pour in the tomato.

11. Immediately season with salt, sugar, and vegetable oil.

12. After gently mixing, place the pot on a low heat. From the moment of a stable boil, simmer the lecho for 20 minutes.

13. While there is some free time, one can sterilize the jars, for example, in a microwave at maximum power for 4 minutes. The glass containers should be wet or have a small amount of water. Boil the metal lids for 3 minutes.

14. After 5 minutes of boiling, the ingredients in the lecho will settle, completely submerged in the tomato.

15. At the 10th minute, press the garlic into the boiling mixture.

16. Pour in the vinegar.

17. Cook the lecho for the remaining 10 minutes and distribute it into jars, filling them to the very top. Screw on the lids and turn the jars upside down.

18. To extend sterilization, wrap the jars in a large thick towel and leave them like this for 10 hours.

19. Store the eggplant lecho for winter in a kitchen cabinet of a regular apartment. This preparation will last for a year, and if stored in a cool place, even up to 2 years. The bright, aromatic pieces of eggplant and pepper will transform any even the most ordinary dish. Try it!