Ajvar

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 5 kg bell pepper(s), red
• 1.7 kg eggplant(s)
• 500 g olive oil
• 300 g onion(s)
• 200 g tomato paste
• 50 g salt
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g vinegar essence
• 5 Pepper, red
• 5 tbsp black pepper
• 1 jar chives, freeze-dried
• 50 g garlic
• 1 tbsp, heaped paprika powder, hot

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 6 hours; Total time approx. 7 hours

as a spread or with grilled food

Wash the peppers and eggplants, remove the stems, and halve them. Place the peppers skin-side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Peel and halve the onion, and place it on the baking sheet. Roast both in the oven at 200°C (400°F) until the skins are blackened. Once the skins are browned, let the peppers cool in a large, lidded bowl. Scoop out the eggplants with a tablespoon and place them in a saucepan. Remove the skins from the peppers (I used a food mill) and add the peppers and onions to the pan. Add the liquid from the bowl to the pan. Wash the chili peppers, remove the stems, and cut the pods into small pieces, then add them to the pan with the seeds. Crush the garlic. Add all ingredients except the tomato paste, paprika, and chives to the pan and reduce the heat for 5 hours, stirring constantly. Once the pepperoni pieces have softened, puree them and any other vegetables with a hand blender. After about 4.5 hours, add the tomato paste, chives, and paprika powder. Season the paste to taste. This yielded 3.7 kg of ajvar, which I cooked in clean jars for 1 hour at 95°C.