Zacuscă de ghebe (Romanian honey mushroom spread)

Ingredients

• 2 kg honey mushrooms
• 3000 ml water
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 2 kg kapia peppers and gogosari peppers
• 300 ml liquid from the roasted peppers
• 500 ml oil
• 1 kg onion
• 1 kg carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 450 g concentrated tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Preparation

1. Clean the honey mushrooms and rinse them in 2-3 changes of water. Boil them in 3000 ml of water with 1 teaspoon of salt over medium heat for 30 minutes, until softened. Rinse them with cold water and leave to drain. 2. Roast the peppers at 220°C for 30 minutes, turning them halfway through, until they are blackened and the skin comes away. Peel them, leave to drain and reserve 300 ml of their liquid. 3. Peel the onion and slice it into thin strips, then peel and grate the carrots. Heat the oil in a large pot, add the onion and 100 ml of the pepper liquid and cook for 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the grated carrot. 4. Chop the drained honey mushrooms and peeled peppers. Add them to the pot with 2 teaspoons of salt, the pepper, thyme, bay leaves and the remaining 200 ml of liquid. Cover and let everything simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 18 minutes, remove the bay leaves. 5. Stir in the tomato paste and sugar, if the paste isn’t slightly sweet. Adjust the seasoning, then put the pot in an oven preheated to 180°C for 25 minutes, until the oil rises to the surface. 6. Wash the jars and leave them to drain. Set them in the still-hot, switched-off oven for 7 minutes, until warmed through. 7. Fill the warm jars with zacuscă and screw on the lids. Put them on a tray and bake at 180°C for 5 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the jars inside until completely cool, about 6 hours.