Jarred vegetable stew

Ingredients

• 200 ml oil
• 1 kg onion
• 1 kg carrots
• 180 g long-grain rice
• 500 ml cold water
• 2 kg bell peppers
• 1500 g Kapia peppers
• 500 g tomato purée
• 4 tablespoons Secretul gustului vegetable seasoning
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Preparation

1. Rinse the rice and leave it to soak for 30 minutes in 500 ml cold water. Drain it in a sieve. 2. Peel the onion and cut it into pieces that aren’t too small. In a deep pan, soften the onion in 200 ml oil over low heat for 10 minutes, until soft. Transfer it to a sieve and let the oil drain back into the pan. 3. Peel the carrots, grate them coarsely and sauté them for 8 minutes in the same pan, in the oil drained from the onion, until softened. 4. Rinse the peppers, remove the seeds and cut them into pieces that aren’t too small. Put them in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, until they start to soften. 5. Add the tomato purée to the peppers and stir for 5 minutes. The mixture becomes red and thick. 6. Add the onion, carrot and drained rice to the pot. Add the vegetable seasoning, bay leaves and pepper. Simmer over very low heat for 2 hours, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pot; the rice should be soft, and the stew should cling to the spoon. 7. Wash the jars thoroughly and dry them. Fill them with the hot stew and seal with lids. Leave them to cool for no more than 2 hours at room temperature, then put them in the fridge.