Eggplant Lecho For The Winter: Recipes With Photos And Videos, Classic And Spicy, As Well As With Beans

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Eggplant lecho for the winter: a selection of proven recipes

Lecho is a Hungarian dish, the invariable ingredients of which are juicy tomatoes, brightly colored sweet peppers and aromatic onions. In Hungary, this dish is served as an independent dish. And in Russia, where the recipe was changed to suit the tastes of local residents, vegetable lecho acts as an addition to meat and fish dishes, cereals, pasta, mashed potatoes. Among the many options for this dish, eggplant lecho for the winter deserves special attention. Therefore, today I decided to share a selection of the best, in my opinion, recipes for the dish.

Content

• 1 Step-by-step eggplant lecho recipes for the winter

  • 1.1 Eggplant lecho with garlic and allspice

    1.1.1 Video: eggplant lecho for the winter

  • 1.2 With carrots and hot peppers

    1.2.1 Video: delicious eggplant for the winter

  • 1.3 With white beans

    1.3.1 Video: salad with beans and eggplant for the winter

Step-by-step eggplant lecho recipes for the winter

The combination of eggplants, tomatoes and sweet peppers delights me. My parents always had a small vegetable garden, where they grew literally several beds of different vegetables. And every year my sister prepared delicious meals for the winter. The aroma emanating from the pots and cauldrons in which the food was cooked was dizzying. And the rows of jars, lined up on the shelves of the cellar, did not cease to delight the eyes and taste buds throughout the cold season. Knowing about my love for eggplants, my sister certainly made preparations from blue ones. Speaking specifically about the eggplant lecho, I found more than 20 recipes for this dish in her notebook! I present to your attention some of them.

Eggplant lecho with garlic and allspice

One of the simplest Hungarian recipes, loved by the hostesses for its simplicity of preparation and great taste.

Ingredients:

• 10 eggplants;
• 10 tomatoes;
• 10 sweet peppers;
• 10 heads of onions;
• 10 cloves of garlic;
• 4 tbsp. l. granulated sugar;
• 2 tbsp. l. salt;
• 100 ml of 9% vinegar;
• 1 tbsp. sunflower oil;
• 4 black peppercorns;
• 5 allspice peas;
• 4 bay leaves.

Preparation:

1. Make cross-shaped cuts on the skins of the tomatoes and immerse them in boiling water for 5-7 seconds.

2. Remove tomatoes from water, peel, cut into wedges.

   

   To prepare lecho, it is advisable to use ripe tomatoes with juicy pulp

3. Grind the prepared vegetables into a puree mass using a meat grinder.

   

   Tomatoes can be mashed using a meat grinder or blender

4. Wash, dry and cut the eggplants into thick cubes about 5 cm long and 2–2.5 cm wide. Place the vegetables in a large bowl, salt, stir and leave for a quarter of an hour to release the bitter juice.

   

   Salt helps remove the bitterness of solanine

5. After 15 minutes, rinse the eggplants and squeeze lightly with your hands.

6. Cut the sweet peppers, peeled of stalks and seeds, into large pieces (like eggplant).

   

   If you use peppers of different colors, the lecho will be brighter.

7. Peel the onions, cut into thick half rings.

   

   To boil the onion into gruel, cut the heads into 2 cm thick half rings

8. Heat the sunflower oil in a large saucepan.

9. Place the onion in hot oil.

   

   You can use regular or refined sunflower oil for frying vegetables.

10. Then - sweet pepper.

    

    To easily mix vegetables throughout the entire cooking process, cook lecho in a spacious container

11. Place the eggplants next to the pot.

    

    Lecho is recommended to be cooked in a cauldron or a thick-walled saucepan

12. Stir the vegetables and simmer over low heat, covered, for 5 minutes.

    

    Even at the initial stage of cooking, the vegetable mass looks very appetizing.

13. Pour tomato puree into the cauldron, add sugar and salt, bay leaf and peppercorns.

    

    The amount of spices can be changed at your discretion

14. Stir the vegetable mixture thoroughly, cover again and continue cooking for another half hour.

    

    Stir the lecho periodically to prevent the vegetables from burning

15. Cut the garlic cloves into 3-5 pieces.

    

    If the garlic cloves are small, you can add them whole to the dish

16. After 30 minutes of cooking vegetables, add garlic and vinegar to the lecho, stir, simmer for 5-7 minutes.

    

    Garlic will make the dish very aromatic.

17. Put the hot lecho into pre-sterilized half-liter jars, twist, turn over and leave to cool.

    

    It is most convenient to prepare lecho in small jars up to 1 liter

18. Transfer the completely cooled jars to storage in a dark, cool place.

    

    Store your workpieces in your basement or cool pantry

Video: eggplant lecho for the winter

With carrots and hot peppers

Another recipe for a delicious eggplant lecho for the winter, which will appeal to lovers of spicy food.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kg eggplant;
• 1.5 kg of tomatoes;
• 500 g carrots;
• 800 g sweet pepper;
• 1 pod of hot pepper;
• 3 heads of garlic;
• 200 g of sunflower oil;
• 130 g of 9% vinegar;
• 250 g sugar;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt.

Preparation:

1. Cut eggplants peeled from the skin into large cubes, sprinkle with salt and leave for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse the vegetables and drain in a colander to drain the liquid.

   

   Eggplant for lecho can be cut into cubes, thick strips or slices

2. Grate the washed and dried carrots on a coarse grater.

   

   Grate the carrots or cut into thin strips

3. Cut sweet peppers (without seeds) into 2–3 cm squares.

   

   Use peppers of one or more colors

4. Chop the tomatoes in mashed potatoes.

   

   If there is no blender, tomatoes can be minced

5. Transfer the eggplants to a large saucepan.

   

   Choose a large pot or cauldron for cooking

6. Transfer carrots, bell peppers to the eggplant, pour in tomato puree, add sugar, salt, sunflower oil.

   

   If you don't like the pungent smell of regular sunflower oil, use a refined product

7. Stir the vegetables, cover and, stirring occasionally, simmer over low heat for half an hour.
8. Peel the pod of hot pepper from the stalk and seeds, garlic - from the husk.

9. Grind the garlic and peppers with a blender.

   

   Chop the garlic and pepper in a blender or chop very finely with a knife

10. Put the resulting spicy gruel in a saucepan 10 minutes before the end of cooking lecho.
11. After 25 minutes from the start of stewing vegetables, pour vinegar into the lecho, mix everything.

12. Put the hot vegetable mass in sterilized small jars and roll up.

    

    In order not to forget what kind of blank is in specific jars, use stickers with inscriptions

Video: delicious eggplant for the winter

With white beans

With the next preparation, you will have to work a little more, since you must first prepare the beans. However, even those who are just starting their culinary journey will easily master this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg eggplant;
• 1 kg of carrots;
• 1 kg of onions;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• 2 liters of tomato juice;
• 500 g white beans;
• 300 ml of sunflower oil;
• 1 tbsp. 9% vinegar;
• 2 tbsp. l. granulated sugar;
• 3 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1 tsp ground black pepper.

Preparation:

1. Soak the white beans in cold water overnight.

   

   Soaking shortens the cooking time of the beans and improves their absorption by the body

2. In the morning, rinse the beans and boil until tender.

   

   The process of boiling beans takes at least 50 minutes, so the product must be prepared before boiling lecho

3. Cut the eggplants into medium-sized pieces, mix with a handful of salt, rinse after a third of an hour, rinsing off the secreted bitter juice.

   

   Eggplant can be cut into cubes or quarters

4. Cut onions into half rings, carrots - grate on a coarse grater, finely chop the garlic with a knife.

   

   Large onion heads can be cut into quarters of rings or chopped with a knife in any shape

5. Pour the tomato juice into a large saucepan, send the onions and carrots there.

   

   Tomato juice can be replaced with tomato paste diluted in water in a 1: 2 ratio

6. After 20 minutes, add the eggplants to the vegetables in the pan.
7. Pour granulated sugar, salt, black pepper into a saucepan, pour in sunflower oil.
8. Stir all ingredients and cook over low heat, covered, for one hour.

9. Add chopped garlic, boiled beans and vinegar to the lecho, mix the food thoroughly and simmer for another quarter of an hour.

   

   The finished meal looks amazing

10. Put the finished eggplant lecho with white beans in sterilized jars, tighten with metal lids (also sterilized beforehand) and cool.

    

    Eggplant lecho with white beans can serve as a stand-alone meal or as an addition to meat and poultry dishes

Video: salad with beans and eggplant for the winter

I have shared with you my favorite eggplant lecho recipes for the winter, and I hope that you will reveal some of the secrets of making this wonderful appetizer by sharing interesting information in the comments below. Bon appetit to you and your loved ones!