Lyutenitsa - Bulgarian Pepper And Tomato Sauce. Step-by-step Recipe With Photo

Lyutenitsa is a traditional Bulgarian pepper and tomato sauce that looks like vegetable caviar. However, you can make the consistency as you wish, depending on the purpose for which you need the vegetable seasoning. The recipe for the pepper and tomato sauce that I propose is quick, but in Bulgaria lutenitsa is cooked on the street in huge cauldrons specially designed for this purpose. However, it is not difficult to prepare this delicious sauce in small quantities at home. The principle of making the sauce is simple - first, peppers and tomatoes are pre-baked, boiled or steamed (as you prefer), rubbed through a sieve to remove the skin and seeds. After that, the vegetable mixture is seasoned and boiled, then packed in jars, sterilized and rolled up.

Cooking time: 1 hour
Quantity: 2 cans with a capacity of 500 ml

Ingredients for Bulgarian pepper and tomato sauce - lutenitsa

1.5 kg of red sweet pepper;
700 g ripe tomatoes;
3 heads of garlic;
150 g parsley;
100 ml olive oil;
15 g salt;
30 g granulated sugar.

Method of cooking lutenitsa - Bulgarian pepper and tomato sauce

Cut out the seeds from the red sweet pepper, then rinse the pepper thoroughly under the tap so that the remnants of the seeds do not accidentally get into the sauce. Cut the pulp into thick strips. By the way, for this recipe, use only ripe and fleshy vegetables, maybe a little overripe, but without signs of spoilage.

Cut the tomatoes in half, cut out the stalk. If the tomatoes are large, then cut them into four parts to cook faster.

We clean the heads of garlic from the husk. It is convenient to quickly peel them in this way - put the head of garlic on a cutting board, on top of the flat side - a wide knife. We hit it hard with our hand. We transfer the separated cloves to a jar or a metal container with a lid, shake strongly for about half a minute. As a result of these manipulations, the husk easily flies off the slices.

Put a bunch of parsley in cold water, rinse under the tap, rinse with boiling water, chop finely.

When all the ingredients are ready, we start cooking. Steam the tomatoes for a couple of 15 minutes, transfer to a rare sieve, wipe with a spoon.

Rub the steamed tomatoes through a sieve

Put the bell peppers in a saucepan with boiling water, cook for about 10 minutes until soft. The cooking time depends on the maturity of the vegetables.

Mix the grated peppers and tomatoes, add the olive oil.

Season with finely chopped garlic and parsley, add granulated sugar and salt. We send it back to the stove, boil it for 20-30 minutes, depending on the desired consistency of the sauce.

Add chopped garlic and herbs to the sauce. Salt and sugar to taste. We put boil down

We prepare cans - wash them, sterilize over steam. Fill with pepper and tomato sauce, cover loosely with boiled lids. We put a towel made of natural fabric into the pan, put the cans, pour hot water (50 degrees) into the pan. The water should reach the cans up to the hangers. Gradually bring to a boil, sterilize for 30 minutes.