Roasted Red Pepper And Eggplant Spread Macedonian Tolcheni Recipes

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND EGGPLANT SPREAD (MACEDONIAN TOLCHENI)

Steps:

• Take the eggplant and peel, slice, chop it into cubes then sprinkle with salt and allow to drain in colander at least 1/2 hour. Then place eggplant in Pyrex bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high 8 to 10 minutes, stirring 1/2 time during cooking.
• Then take the red bell peppers and wash, dry and place under the broiler turning the peppers as skin turns black on all sides (5-10 min). Remove peppers from broiler, place them into a Pyrex bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to cool. (you may use your own method of removing all the pepper skins) Remove skins, discard and seeds then place in food processor and blend 5 to 10 seconds. Add cooled eggplant and pulse processor 5 times until blended. AVOID OVER PROCESSING. Pour the blended eggplant / pepper mixture into bowl.
• Add the garlic, tomato sauce, olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add crushed red pepper flakes if desired. Stir together.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND PEPPER SPREAD

Steps:

• Grill Eggplants: To grill the eggplants, make sure to poke holes in them with a knife, so they don't explode! Grill them until soft and charred. They will take a good 30-45 minutes to get a nice char on them. Transfer them to a bowl and let them cool completely. Remove the peel, using a knife - if you've cooked them enough, the peel should come off easily. Try and get them as clean as possible with no char bits on them. Place them in a colander over a bowl and let them drain for a few minutes.
• Grill the Peppers: Grill the peppers, or roast them in the oven until they are almost completely charred. Let them cool completely. There are a couple ways to remove the peel. You can either peel them under running water or place them in a bowl with about a tbsp of salt. Cover them with a lid and let them rest for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes the peel should come off quite easily. Peel them and remove all the seeds from them. Also place the peppers in a colander over a bowl and let them drain for a few minutes.
• Chop: The next step you can do in small batches, depends how big your food processor is! Place some eggplant into the food processor and pulse a few times until the eggplant is finely chopped, but do not pulse it too much, you don't want it to look like a paste. Repeat the same with the peppers.
• Cook Onions: In a very large pot heat the oil and add the onions. Cook the onions until soft, make sure not to burn them. They should just start to change color.
• Add Ingredients & Cook: Carefully add the eggplant and peppers and stir using a wooden spoon. Next, add tomato sauce, then add the salt, black pepper and bay leaves. This will require 3 hours of cooking over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally (I stirred every 10 minutes, just so that it doesn't stick to the bottom).
• Prep The Jars: Wash the jars with soap in scalding water. Put jars in a water-bath canner or on a rack set in a deep pot and cover with hot water.Bring water to a boil and boil jars, covered, 15 minutes from time steam emerges from pot. Turn off the heat and let them stand in hot water.
• Place Jars in Oven: Just before the spread is ready to be canned, place the jars (lids off) in the oven at 350F degrees for 10 minutes.
• Fill The Jars: Take them out and carefully fill the jars with zacusca, leaving about an inch left from the top. Place the lid onto the rim and, using one finger to hold the lid securely, twist on the screw band until it's tight.
• Finish And Let The Jars Cool: Once this is done with all the jars, place them back in the oven and continue baking for another 15 minutes; after which you can turn off the oven, and let them cool in there for a few hours.

SPICY ROASTED RED PEPPER AND EGGPLANT SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425F/220°C.
• While the peppers and eggplant are roasting, chop your onions and fresh chili (if you are using a fresh chili). Throw away the seeds and pith of the chili, and remember to only use half. Set aside.
• Put the eggplant and the bell peppers on a baking tray. To prevent exploding, poke a few holes in the eggplant, and one small slit in each pepper, facing up (while the peppers cook, they will fill with juice, and you don't want it to leak out).
• Roast them in the oven for about 40 minutes, until the eggplant is soft. Allow to cool enough to touch.
• Carefully put the peppers in a bowl, saving as much juice as possible, and cut in half. Peel away and discard the skin, seeds and pith.
• Cut the eggplant in half, and use a spoon (a grapefruit spoon works amazing for this if you have one!) to scoop out the flesh into the bowl with the red pepper flesh.
• Put the olive oil in the soup pot on low heat, and add the onions. Cook until soft, but not browned.
• Add the hot chili or chili powder, and cook for few quick minutes.
• Add the eggplant, red peppers, thyme, and paprika, and stir.
• Add about three quarters of the stock (enough to cover the contents of the pot), and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• In a few batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth (you need to use a second pot to keep the pureed and un-pureed soup separate).
• Add more stock to adjust the consistency if you need to.
• Add salt, black pepper, small amounts of oregano and coriander, and more of the other spices and thyme to taste. Add a small dash of lime juice as well.
• Serve hot with a spoonful or two of fresh cream on top, and a spoonful of chopped scallions.

CROATIAN AJVAR (PEPPER AND EGGPLANT SAUCE)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 475 degrees. Roast washed eggplants and peppers until their skins blister and turn black, about 30 minutes. Turn to ensure entire vegetable is roasted.
• Once roasted set vegetables in a heatproof bowl to steam. This well help to remove skin. Remove skin and seeds/stems.
• In a large bowl, mash vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add garlic and drizzle in oil, stirring constantly.
• Store covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week.

ROMANIAN ZACUSCA

Steps:

• Over an open flame (gas stove or grill) completely blacken the skins of the eggplants and peppers.
• Peel skins off immediately. Easiest way to get the last bits off is to do it under a slow running faucet.
• Puree each of the three vegetables separately in a food processor. And place each in a separate bowl when you are finished.
• Place oil and onion in a large pot.
• Saute onions for about 4 minutes over medium-low heat.
• Add eggplant, onion, salt and pepper.
• Cook until a thin layer of oil remains on top and when a spoonful of zacusca is removed, only the oil should run off the spoon, not the zacusca.
• Taste and adjust salt and pepper to meet your tastes.
• Spoon mixture into sterilized jars of your choosing. It is easiest if they are all the same size.
• Wipe rims clean and place clean lids and rings on jars.
• Place into a single layer in large pot (water bath canner if you have one).
• Fill pot with water up to the necks of the jars. Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool in water bath.
• When cool remove from water and you are ready to go. If oil separates just mix it back in when ready to serve.
• NOTE: My original Romanian recipe calls for a full Liter of oil but results in a much heavier and oilier zacusca. I cut mine back substantially from the original.

EGGPLANT SPREAD - ROMANIAN APPETIZER (PUTTLAJEL OR PATLAGEA VANA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Wrap the eggplants in aluminum foil and place onto baking sheet.
• Bake until soft and the skin is charred, about 1 hour.
• Slice open the eggplants and scoop out all of the insides, placing it into a large bowl.
• Chop the eggplants with a fork and add the chopped onions, oil, salt and pepper.
• Mix well with a fork.
• Spread this rough mixture onto the slices of white bread or pita bread and serve as an appetizer.