Zacuscă, Romanian eggplant spread

Ingredients

• 10 kg eggplants
• 5 kg kapia peppers
• 2 kg yellow bell peppers
• 2 kg onions
• 1800 ml oil
• 30 g salt
• 1 kg tomato paste

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Roast the eggplants in batches for 40 minutes, until soft and blackened in places. Roast the peppers at 220°C for 25 minutes, until their skins blister. 2. Peel the eggplants and roasted peppers, then leave them to drain in the fridge overnight, about 12 hours. The drained eggplants should weigh about 3.8 kg. 3. Pass the eggplants and peppers through a meat grinder fitted with the coarse plate. Peel the onion and dice it. 4. Heat the 1800 ml of oil in a cauldron. Add the onion and 30 g of salt and cook for 15 minutes, until soft and translucent. 5. Add the ground eggplant and peppers to the cauldron. Simmer for about 60 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture thickens. 6. Add the tomato paste and simmer for another 30 minutes, until the oil rises to the surface. 7. Spoon the hot zacuscă into sterilized jars and seal them. Let them cool and store them in the fridge or freeze the portions.