Lecho … Find at least one hostess who has not tried to cook it. Lecho is so popular that it is inevitably associated with the cellar, winter and home gatherings. There are a great many variations on the theme of its preparation. If you decide to replenish your piggy bank of recipes, sit back and the master class begins.
Lecho had been registered in Russian families so long ago that only the lazy did not try to cook it. It is good both as an appetizer for side dishes and as an independent dish, too. Housewives love to cook it in the last summer month, when the harvest pleases with its abundance. Then the lecho turns out to be especially tasty and juicy. Ideally, of course, if all the products are ripening before your eyes, in your own beds, in the country or in the village. You can safely sign the quality and naturalness of such a workpiece.
But if you buy the necessary ingredients on the market during the high season, in August, for example, then the quality will not suffer either. In summer, lecho will be a great addition to your daily menu. And if it happens that the vegetables remain for future use, then it will be possible to conjure over them and make winter preparations. Can you imagine how mentally it will be to get a jar of fragrant lecho in winter and rewind the film a little back, on sultry hot days?
The hostesses selflessly experiment with tastes, adding eggplants, carrots, and various spices to the classic lecho. Of the thousands of variations of homemade preparation, one of the most interesting is lecho with tomato juice. These vegetables work well together, complementing and helping to reveal each other's taste. The result is quite unusual - bright and rich. Therefore, if you are already impatient to start preparing new items, start.
Classic recipe
So, in the process you will need:
- 3 liters of tomato juice;
- 4 kilograms of bell pepper;
- 4 kilograms of tomatoes;
- 6 tablespoons of sugar;
- half a glass of refined vegetable oil;
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 8 tablespoons of vinegar;
- 6 tablespoons of sugar.
The best place to start is with tomatoes. If the tomatoes are liquid, fleshy, then you can get by with a little less than stated. Sort the tomatoes. Leave only the healthiest and most mature. Wash them thoroughly, remove the tails, cut into pieces so that they fit freely in your juicer. If you don't have a juicer at hand, don't despair. There is a little trick here. "Granny's advice", tested and honed by time, will help you.
Prepare two pots in advance. Fill one with cold water and refrigerate for about an hour. Make sure that the water does not completely freeze and turn into ice. Pour water into the second, lower the tomatoes there, put them on the stove and wait for the water to boil. Once this has happened, action must be taken urgently. Transfer the hot tomatoes from the second pot to the first and refrigerate. With this manipulation, the skin will come off very quickly. You will only have to knead the tomatoes to a state of gruel.
Pour the resulting gruel or juice into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Dip the crushed garlic inside, add sugar and salt, pour vinegar and vegetable oil, bring to a boil again. While the juice is simmering on the fire, bring the peppers to their proper form: wash them, remove the tails, discard the seeds and partitions. And then cut into large pieces, into 4-6 pieces. Now release the pepper into the boiling piece and mix well. The peppers will stick out of the water a little, but do not worry, in the end everything will be proportional, when cooked they will soften and be equal in quantity to tomatoes.
After boiling, cook all the ingredients over low heat for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. During this time, the peel will not have time to move away from the peppers. If you love without her, you can darken lecho longer. Here is the home stretch. The lecho is ready. It remains only to put it in pre-sterilized jars.
Fast and easy sterilization of cans
Place the jars with the neck down in the oven. Set the temperature to 120 degrees and wait 15 minutes. Do not worry, at such a gentle temperature everything will be in order with them: the cans will not burst or crack. After successful sterilization, turn the jars of lecho upside down, cover with a warm blanket or a thick towel and leave to stand in essence. After the declared time, the aromatic, unusually tasty lecho will be ready. In a dark place, jars can be stored until winter.
Lecho with eggplant and tomato juice
There is another interesting way of making lecho, which is distinguished by its rich taste and a variety of ingredients. If you are already a little tired of the classic recipes, then you can pamper yourself with something exotic. Lecho with eggplant, carrots and tomato juice will hit your taste buds. Many tastes will be intertwined into one single melody that will not leave you indifferent.
For cooking, prepare the following set of products:
- 5 kg eggplant;
- 6 carrots;
- 2 liters of tomato juice;
- 15 pieces of peppers;
- 3 heads of garlic,
- half a liter of vegetable oil;
- a quarter glass of salt;
- one and a half glasses of sugar;
- 250 grams of vinegar.
Grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan, put carrots there and cook for 15 minutes. Cut the pepper into strips, send there along with the tomato juice prepared in advance. Add sugar and salt and simmer for another quarter of an hour. Divide the garlic into small pieces or squeeze out with a press. Cut the washed eggplants into cubes. Add vegetables to the preparation, pour in vinegar and simmer for another 20 minutes. Drum roll, fanfare - done. Can be poured into jars. Bon Appetit!
Lecho in a multicooker
The following recipe is dedicated to all lovers of the gifts of civilization and the happy owners of a multicooker. It is quite possible that such a useful item has settled in your kitchen for a long time. With it, you can do everything much faster. If you hate standing at the stove for a long time, then this recipe is definitely for you. He will bribe with his simplicity even the most notorious culinary bummer.
To get started, get the following set of products from the store:
- one and a half kilograms of peppers;
- half a liter of tomato juice;
- two heads of garlic;
- 100 grams of sugar;
- 100 grams of vegetable oil;
- hot peppers to taste;
- vinegar 9% - 40 grams.
Wash all food and dry well. Cut the peppers into elongated slices, having previously cleaned them of stalks and seeds. Divide the garlic and chili into rounds. Take a deep bowl and combine tomato juice, salt, sugar and vegetable oil in it. Put everything in the multicooker bowl, mix thoroughly and put on the "Stew" mode for 40 minutes.
Over time, take out the lecho, and prepare the jars for sterilization. Place them inside the multicooker with the neck down. Set the "Steam" mode for 15 minutes. Dip the lids in boiling water for five minutes, wipe dry.
You can rest a little while and have some tea. When the cans are successfully sterilized, lay the lecho on them and tighten the lids. That's all. Reap the rewards of your efforts with pleasure and try what happened. The lecho will be a little thick, tender and very appetizing. Real jam! Here is such a simple, affordable and quick way to make lecho without unnecessary hassle.
Therefore, if you have long wanted to replenish the collection of blanks, but did not dare - do not put it in the back box. Choose the most suitable recipe for yourself and go ahead - create!
