Lyutenitsa 🍅 Bulgarian Pepper–Tomato Spread 🇧🇬 (Lutenitsa)

Description

Smoky roasted red peppers and tomatoes cooked down with carrot and a gloss of sunflower oil—thick, sweet–savory, and spoonable on everything. 🫑🔥

Hook: Roast, reduce, and jar—late-summer flavor in under an hour on the stove. ⚡

Ingredients

• Roast
• 🫑 Red roasting peppers, whole: 1.2 kg (8–10 pcs / 2.6 lb)
• 🍅 Ripe tomatoes, halved (or passata): 1.0 kg (6–7 pcs / 2.2 lb / 4 cups)
• 🍆 Eggplant (optional, classic in some regions): 300 g (1 small / 10.6 oz)
• 🧄 Garlic, unpeeled cloves (for roasting): 12 g (4 cloves / 0.4 oz)
• Base & finish
• 🥕 Carrots, peeled & diced small: 200 g (1½ cups / 7 oz)
• 🧅 Onion, diced: 120 g (1 cup / 4.2 oz)
• 🫗 Sunflower oil: 120 ml (½ cup / 4 fl oz)
• 🍬 Sugar (to balance): 10–15 g (2–3 tsp / 0.35–0.53 oz)
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈12 g / 2 tsp)
• ⚫ Black pepper: 1 g (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 🌶️ Sweet paprika: 4 g (1½ tsp / 0.14 oz)
• 🍎 Apple cider vinegar: 15–20 ml (1–1½ tbsp / 0.5–0.68 fl oz)
• 🌿 Parsley, finely chopped (optional): 1–2 tbsp (4–8 g / 0.14–0.28 oz)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Char & peel: Broil/grill 🫑 peppers, 🍆 eggplant, and 🍅 tomatoes cut-side up until blistered (15–20 min). Toss in the 🧄 cloves for the last 5 min. Steam covered 10 min, then peel and seed peppers; scoop eggplant; slip garlic from skins.
2. 2️⃣ Start the pot: In a wide pot, warm 🫗 oil. Sauté 🥕 carrot and 🧅 onion with a pinch of 🧂 salt 6–8 min until soft.
3. 3️⃣ Reduce: Add peeled 🍅 tomato flesh (or passata), chopped peppers/eggplant, and roasted 🧄. Stir in 🍬 sugar, 🌶️ paprika, ⚫ pepper, and most of the 🧂 salt. Simmer on medium-low, stirring often, until very thick and glossy (20–25 min).
4. 4️⃣ Finish: Stir in 🍎 vinegar and 🌿 parsley; cook 1–2 min. Adjust salt/acid. Cool and refrigerate up to 1 week, or jar hot in sterilized jars.

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 25 min
🔥 Cook: 30 min
⏳ Total: 55 min

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