Eggplant zacuscă in jars

Name: Eggplant zacuscă in jars
Ingredients: 6 kg eggplants; 6 kg peppers; 2 kg onions; 1000 ml oil; 800 ml tomato juice; 4 tablespoons salt; 2 teaspoons ground pepper

Conserve - Eggplant zacuscă in jars by Mihaela B. - Recipia

Eggplant zacuscă, a Romanian fasting spread, is usually served cold on bread, after the eggplants and roasted peppers have simmered with onion and tomato juice until well combined. It becomes a thick paste, with the oil rising to the surface, almost like a stew cooked down until it can be spread. I spread it on thin slices of toast. Preparation: 90 minutes. Cooking: 285 minutes. Resting: 30 minutes. Total time: 405 minutes. Servings: 80. Approximately 160 kcal and 2 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

6 kg eggplants
6 kg peppers
2 kg onions
1000 ml oil
800 ml tomato juice
4 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons ground pepper

Preparation

1. Bake the eggplants in an oven preheated to 220°C for 50 minutes, until soft and collapsed. 2. Bake the peppers at 220°C for 30 minutes, until the skins blister and turn black. 3. Peel the eggplants and peppers, then leave them to drain for 30 minutes. 4. Finely chop the onion and sauté it in 1000 ml of oil for 20 minutes, until soft and translucent. 5. Pass the eggplants and peppers through a meat grinder and add them to the saucepan with the onion. Add the tomato juice, 4 tablespoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of ground pepper. Cook the zacuscă for 150 minutes, stirring often towards the end, until it thickens and the oil rises to the surface. 6. Put clean, dry jars in an oven preheated to 160°C for 35 minutes, until hot. 7. Spoon the hot zacuscă into the jars, seal them and leave to cool. Keep it in the refrigerator or freeze it in portions.

Notes

You can replace 1 kg of the peppers with 1 kg of kapia peppers; the zacuscă will still be suitable for fasting and dairy-free. Once cooled, keep it in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days, and freeze portions for later in small containers. Serve cold on toast, with fresh cucumbers on the side. Large, older eggplants often have more seeds and take longer to bake than small, firm ones. If the vegetables release a lot of water while draining, the cooking time may be longer; stir more often towards the end, because thick zacuscă catches easily on the bottom.