It rained all day on Monday, it's damp and cool outside.
We decided to postpone our trip to the dacha after work and start preparing for the winter. On Sunday, we picked a bucket of peppers and tomatoes, and cut the remaining cauliflower. If we leave it in the garden, it will bloom. We'll freeze it and eat it in the winter.
We decided to make lecho and a few jars of pickled tomatoes. We make lecho every year. Last year, we had a bountiful pepper harvest both in the greenhouse and outside, so we made a bunch of jars of lecho, with nine left over. That would have been enough, but what would we do with the peppers?
I make lecho using an old recipe. I have a notebook with my first recipes for winter preserves, which I made myself, without my mother, for my family.
It's already all tattered, of course I copied all the recipes into another notebook, but I'm not throwing this one away, it's dear to me, like a memory.
This lecho recipe is a hit with the whole family; it's delicious with a sweet and sour dressing. The recipe is very simple: no sterilization is required for the pepper jars; simply pour the mixture into clean jars, seal, and wrap in a blanket.
I try not to make recipes that require sterilization; I don’t like messing around with pots and pans; it’s much easier to just pour boiling marinade over the ingredients and roll them up.
What ingredients are needed to prepare lecho: tomatoes, bell peppers, a bunch of fresh herbs, a few cloves of garlic, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, and vinegar.
First, you need to grind the tomatoes through a meat grinder, blender, or grate them on a coarse grater - you need 6 glasses of juice.
You can strain the juice through a sieve, but I never strain it; I like it when there are tomato seeds in the mixture.
Pour the juice into a large saucepan and place on the stove. Boil for 15 minutes, then add 1 cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of salt, and sliced pepper.
I didn't weigh the peppers; I have a 10-liter bucket of peppers. The pot will fill to the top, so you need to cover it with a lid.
Boil the whole mixture for another 15-20 minutes, then add chopped herbs - I have parsley, dill and a sprig of basil, and one tablespoon of 9% vinegar.
Pour the lecho into clean, sterilized jars, close with lids, and cover with a warm blanket or towel.
Makes 6 jars.