Ajvar

Ingredients

• Fleshy red peppers3 kg
• Aubergines600 g
• Garlic6 clove
• Neutral oil250 ml
• Wine vinegar3 tbsp
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Roast the peppers and aubergines at 220 °C or over a flame until blistered black all over.

   40 min

2. 2

   Pile them hot into a covered pot for twenty minutes: the steam lifts the skin by itself.

   22 min

3. 3

   Peel and seed them and leave the flesh in a colander for two or three hours. Do not press: the water should drain on its own.

   180 min

4. 4

   Put it through a mincer or chop it by hand — not a blender: what is wanted is a coarse texture rather than a purée.

   15 min

5. 5

   Reduce it in a pot with half the oil over a low flame for an hour, stirring every ten minutes.

   60 min

6. 6

   Add the garlic, vinegar, salt and the rest of the oil and cook another half hour, until the oil starts separating. Pack it hot into sterilised jars.

   32 min

About the dish

The peppers are charred to blackened skin rather than merely roasted. The burnt skin gives the smoky flavour ajvar is valued for; the skin itself comes off completely afterwards.

After peeling, the vegetables are left to drain for several hours. Spare water doubles the cooking time and dilutes the flavour.

It reduces long and slow, with stirring. Ajvar is ready when a wooden spoon leaves a track on the bottom and the oil starts separating at the edges.

Worth knowing

• — The peppers should be fleshy, of the horn-shaped kind. Thin-walled bell peppers give little flesh and a great deal of water.
• — Stir with a wooden spoon and reach the bottom: ajvar catches instantly and a burnt note never leaves it.
• — Seal the jars hot and turn them upside down until cool. Ajvar then keeps all winter without refrigeration.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

180 kcal

Protein

2 g

Fat

15 g

Carbs

11 g

Useful for this recipe

• Oven Temperature Converter

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