Bulgarian luytenitsa

Bulgarian luytenitsa
My grandmother’s recipe

Ingredients for 18 jars of 180 ml:

5 kg of red peppers
3 kg of tomatoes
3 ½ teaspoons salt
300 ml of sunflower oil
2 tablespoons dried savory (or ground cumin)
100 g sugar
40 ml of vinegar

Preparation:

Grill, peel and deseed the peppers. Grind in a meat grinder on medium tip. Peel the tomatoes and grind just like the peppers.

In a large saucepan (wider than deep), mix both vegetables and bring to a boil. Set over medium heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour. By cons, if the tomatoes are too juicy, start cooking the tomatoes and only add the peppers 20-30 minutes later.

In 1 to 1 ½ hours of cooking, add the vinegar, sugar and salt. Continue simmering until the sauce thickens (a wooden spatula should draw a path on the bottom of the pan) and the vegetables look cooked. It takes about 2 hours.

At the end of cooking, season the lyuténitsa with savory (or ground cumin, but not the two at the same time) and pour the heated sunflower oil. Mix well and remove from heat.

While the luyténitsa is hot, ladle it in washed and dried jars. Make sure there are no air bubbles left in the lyutenitsa (stir with a teaspoon to let any out). Seal the jars immediately with their lids.

Sterilization:

Cover the bottom of a large pot with a cloth. Align tight the jars inside. Fill with water until they are covered with a 1 cm. Allow 10 minutes of cooking from the boiling point.