Lecho With Cucumbers For The Winter: Recipes With Photos And Videos

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

Lecho with cucumbers for the winter: a twist that will not get bored

The main ingredients of the classic lecho donated to the world by Hungarian culinary experts are tomatoes and bell peppers. However, these are far from the only vegetables from which you can prepare the basis of a great snack. For example, lecho from cucumbers mixed with the same tomatoes and peppers, and in addition seasoned with garlic, onions and herbs, turns out to be very appetizing, fragrant and slightly piquant.

Content

• 1 Cucumber lecho with bell pepper and tomatoes for the winter

• 2 Cucumber lecho with carrots and onions

  2.1 Video: how to cook cucumber lecho for the winter

Cucumber lecho with bell pepper and tomatoes for the winter

Finding the right cucumbers for pickling takes some experience. Here, the size of the fruit, and its shape, and the thickness of the skin, and even the presence of pimples of a certain color are important, which, according to knowledgeable housewives, greatly affect the final result. With lecho everything is easier. The main thing here is that the vegetables do not turn out to be too ripe, dry and yellow, other things do not play a special role. Even cucumbers lying on the counter and "hanging tails" can be reanimated by soaking them in cold water for 6-8 hours. As for the rest of the ingredients, they should be just ripe and free of blemishes. Tomatoes slightly crumpled during transportation or cracked peppers will do just fine.

You will need:

• 1 kg of cucumbers;
• 500 g of tomatoes;
• 250 g bell pepper;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• 50 ml vinegar (9%);
• 50 ml of vegetable oil;
• Ground red pepper - to taste;
• 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt.

Cooking.

1. Cucumbers, even if you got fresh fruits just picked from the garden, soak them in cold water for 2-3 hours - this will relieve them of excess bitterness, and the pulp will give a pleasant density and "crunchiness".

   

   Cut off the tips of the cucumbers

2. Remove the stalks and seeds from the bell pepper, and cut the pepper itself into narrow strips.

   

   If you want lecho to look more appetizing, take yellow and red peppers, they look more attractive

3. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, cut them crosswise, remove the peel and chop the pulp in any convenient way: using a blender, meat grinder or coarse grater.

   

   If you choose a grater, you do not need to remove the skin from the tomatoes - in the end, it will still remain in your hands.

4. Collect the tomato pulp together with the juice that has come out in a saucepan with a thick bottom, put the pepper pieces here, add the oil, add sugar and salt and send everything to the stove, covered with a lid to prevent moisture from evaporating excessively. As soon as the mass begins to boil, reduce the flame and cook it for about a quarter of an hour.

   

   Stir the vegetables with a spoon from time to time so they don't burn.

5. This time is enough to remove cucumbers from the water and chop the fruits as you like best - in circles, long longitudinal strips or cubes. The main thing is to guess the size: the slices should not turn out to be too thin, so as not to boil down into porridge, but they should not be too large, otherwise it will no longer lecho.

   

   For a large jar, cucumbers can be cut larger, for a small one - smaller

6. Place the cucumbers in the sauce simmering on the stove and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Check the brew for taste and density: if it seems to you that the lecho lacks salt, add it; if the cucumber slices remain too hard, lengthen the cooking time by 2-3 minutes. But don't overdo it, the main ingredient should remain firm and crunchy!

   

   Make sure the cucumbers are not overcooked

7. Pass the garlic through a press and, along with the vinegar and paprika, add it to the pan.

   

   A little spiciness of lecho won't hurt

8. Stir the mass with a spoon, keep it on the fire for another 3-5 minutes, removing the lid, and you can put the lecho in pre-prepared sterilized jars to seal for the winter.

   

   Lecho can be stored tightly corked for a year and 3-4 days after you open the jar

Cucumber lecho with carrots and onions

The recipe for any popular dish is diverse, because every housewife prepares it a little in her own way. If the previous version of lecho did not inspire you, try another option, adding carrots for variegation and vitamins, onions for spiciness, and herbs for flavor.

You will need:

• 1 kg of cucumbers;
• 1 kg of tomatoes;
• 1 kg of bell pepper;
• 1 kg of carrots;
• 3 heads of onions;
• 3-4 large cloves of garlic;
• 100 ml vegetable oil + cooking oil;
• 1 tbsp. l vinegar (9%);
• 1-2 bay leaves;
• 2-3 tbsp. l. dry greens of dill;
• 2-3 tbsp. l. dry parsley;
• 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt.

Cooking.

1. Cut the stalks of the pepper, remove the seeds, and cut the flesh into thin slices.

   

   Pepper is an invariable ingredient in lecho

2. Fry the peppers in a sprinkled skillet for 15–20 minutes to give the finished meal a delicious flavor. Transfer the hot slices to a heavy-bottomed saucepan or cauldron.

   

   The pepper should only lightly brown

3. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and send them to the pepper.

   

   It is advisable to pre-scald the tomatoes with boiling water and free from the skin

4. Cut the cucumbers as you like, and transfer them to the saucepan too.

   

   Mix vegetables gently with a large spoon

5. Grate the carrots.

   

   Choose a coarse grater

6. Peel the onion and cut into half rings.

   

   If you want to spice up the snack, increase the amount of onions

7. Pass the garlic through a press or chop smaller.

   

   Chop the garlic as you see fit

8. First, fry the onion in vegetable oil for 4–5 minutes, and then add the carrots and garlic to it.

   

   You will have a kind of fry.

9. Wait 5 more minutes and transfer the stir-fry to the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, add oil, salt, sugar and bay leaf and place the pan over medium heat. Don't worry if the mixture looks a little dry at first, the tomatoes will juice soon and you will be fine.

   

   At this stage, you can add other spices - paprika, allspice, coriander

10. When the brew starts bubbling, reduce the heat to a minimum, simmer the lecho on the stove under the lid for about 20 minutes, periodically tasting it in order to correct the salt content if necessary.

    

    After 10-15 minutes, the cucumbers will change their color

11. After 30 minutes, add vinegar, parsley and dill to the vegetable mass, mix everything well, pack the finished lecho in jars, cork for the winter and cool, turning the bottoms upside down.

    

    Cool the jars by turning them upside down, and you can put them away for storage

Vinegar is not a favorite ingredient of housewives, who often try to replace it with healthier preservatives. For example, I came across a really delicious lecho cooked with citric acid. According to the recipe learned from the hostess, the acid should be put into an almost ready-made dish 5 minutes before extinguishing the fire (1 tsp for each liter of fragrant vegetable mixture), and at the same time filling the jars to the very neck, trying not to leave space for air under the cover. Alas, all of my new recipes exploded within a week, but that doesn't mean the idea itself is bad. It is more than likely that the cook turned out to be bad, and nothing prevents you from making a jar or two of lecho without vinegar for a sample. What if your experience turns out to be more successful?

Video: how to cook cucumber lecho for the winter

Despite the fact that some people with hostility perceive the very idea of boiled cucumbers, lecho from this vegetable is more than pleasant to the taste and usually does not sit in the refrigerator. Try this fall to diversify your homemade preparations with a new recipe and it will surely become one of your favorites.