Lyutenitsa
In autumn many Bulgarian households roast peppers for lyutenitsa — a supply for the winter. It is roasted red peppers and tomatoes, ground and slowly reduced with garlic, oil and a little sugar into a thick, sweetish relish with a smoky flavour. It is a close cousin of Balkan ajvar, but contains tomatoes, so it is tangier. Bulgarians spread it on bread and scatter it with white cheese. It takes patience — the reducing lasts about an hour and a half.
Your own work in that: 50 min.
- Roasting the peppers 30 min
- Peeling the peppers 30 min
- Peeling the tomatoes 15 min
- Grinding 10 min
- Reducing 90 min
- Filling the jars 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneRoast the peppers
Heat the oven to 230°C fan or turn on the grill. Roast the whole peppers, on two trays, 25–30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, until the skins are black and blistered.
Ingredients: 1500 g fleshy red peppers · 1000 g ripe tomatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 8 cloves garlic · 1 pcs hot chilli (optional)
Black skin — sweet, smoky flesh.Peel the peppers
Put the hot peppers in a bowl, cover with a plate for 10 minutes, then peel off the skins and remove the seeds. Do not rinse them under the tap — they would lose flavour.
Ingredients: 1500 g fleshy red peppers · 1000 g ripe tomatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 8 cloves garlic · 1 pcs hot chilli (optional)
Peel the tomatoes
Peel and slice the carrots and boil until tender, about 15 minutes (or roast them with the peppers). Meanwhile score the tomatoes with a cross, scald in boiling water for a minute, cool under cold water, slip off the skins and cut out the hard cores by the stalks.
Ingredients: 1500 g fleshy red peppers · 1000 g ripe tomatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 8 cloves garlic · 1 pcs hot chilli (optional)
Grind the vegetables
Put the peppers, tomatoes, carrots and chilli through a meat grinder or blend to a thick, slightly coarse paste.
Ingredients: 1500 g fleshy red peppers · 1000 g ripe tomatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 8 cloves garlic · 1 pcs hot chilli (optional)
Slightly coarse — not smooth like a purée.Cook slowly
Transfer the paste to a wide heavy pot, add the oil (keep back 2 tablespoons for the jars) and cook over medium-low heat, at a gentle bubble, for about an hour and a half. Stir often across the bottom with a wooden spoon. The lyutenitsa is ready when about 1 litre remains and the spoon leaves a clear trail across the bottom. With juicy tomatoes it may take longer. It spits — cover the pot with a sieve.
Ingredients: 1500 g fleshy red peppers · 1000 g ripe tomatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 8 cloves garlic · 1 pcs hot chilli (optional)
The spoon leaves a trail — the lyutenitsa is ready.Season
Towards the end add the crushed garlic, sugar, salt and chopped parsley. Cook 5 more minutes. Taste — lyutenitsa should be sweetish, slightly tangy and full of pepper flavour.
Ingredients: 150 ml sunflower oil · 30 g sugar · 2 tsp salt · ½ bunch parsley
Fill the jars
Spoon the hot lyutenitsa into clean, scalded jars, level it and cover with a thin layer of the reserved oil. Close.
Ingredients: 150 ml sunflower oil · 30 g sugar · 2 tsp salt · ½ bunch parsley
Cool and refrigerate
Cool the jars and refrigerate. Serve on bread with white cheese, with grilled meat, sausages and eggs.
Ingredients: 1500 g fleshy red peppers · 1000 g ripe tomatoes · 2 pcs carrots · 8 cloves garlic · 1 pcs hot chilli (optional)
Before you start
Storage
Lyutenitsa keeps 2 weeks in the fridge. For longer, freeze it in small containers — up to 6 months. Do not store it in the pantry: peppers, carrots and garlic are low-acid vegetables, the tomatoes do not acidify the relish enough, and home pasteurisation does not destroy botulism spores. Always use a clean spoon for an open jar.
With aubergine
Many homes add one roasted aubergine to lyutenitsa — the relish is then milder and creamier.
On bread
The simplest Bulgarian breakfast is a slice of bread spread with lyutenitsa and topped with crumbled sirene cheese or feta.