Pepper zacusca with honey and mustard

Name: Pepper zacusca with honey and mustard
Ingredients: 1500 g roasted and drained peppers; 250 ml oil; 1 teaspoon peppercorns; 2 bay leaves; 3 heaped tablespoons mustard; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Conserve - Pepper zacusca with honey and mustard by Paula H. - Recipia

Pepper zacusca with honey and mustard, a Romanian pepper spread, has a sweetish flavor and a strong aroma when made with roasted, well-drained peppers. The mustard and honey simmer with the ground peppers, and the zacusca slowly thickens on the stovetop with peppercorns and bay leaves. I like it spread in a thin layer on toasted bread. Preparation: 30 minutes. Cooking: 165 minutes. Resting: 6 hours and 30 minutes. Total time: 9 hours and 45 minutes. Serves: 5. Approximately 530 kcal and 3 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

1500 g roasted and drained peppers
250 ml oil
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 heaped tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Preparation

1. Roast the peppers on the stovetop for about 30 minutes in total, turning them until the skins blacken and come loose. Peel them and leave them to drain for 2 hours and 30 minutes. 2. Pass the drained peppers through a meat grinder. 3. Put the oil, chopped peppers, peppercorns, bay leaves, mustard and honey in a saucepan. Stir and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove the bay leaves after 30 minutes. At the end, adjust the taste with salt and ground pepper. 4. Spoon the hot zacusca into jars and screw the lids on tightly. Put the jars in a pot of water and keep them in a water bath over very low heat for 45 minutes, with the water barely simmering. 5. Leave the jars covered with towels, or in the pot where you sterilized them, for 4 hours, until they cool.

Notes

Meaty, well-roasted peppers yield more flesh; thinner ones can make the zacusca more watery. If they still have a lot of juice after draining, leave them a little longer so you don't have to extend the cooking time. Peel off all the blackened skin, since burnt bits can make the spread bitter. Compared with the usual eggplant zacusca, the sweetish flavor comes through more clearly. I eat it on dark bread, with raw onion on the side. Choose classic mustard without horseradish, and bear in mind that mustard is the allergen to watch for. Once cooled, keep the jars in the refrigerator and eat the zacusca within 3 days.