Ajvar is an integral dish of Balkan cuisine and is prepared from sweet, less often spicy, paprika. It can be used as a sauce or a side dish to complement it, or simply as a spread on bread. The unique aroma and rich taste of the snack will undoubtedly please you too. Below are several recipes for preparing ajvar for the winter.

Ajvar – Serbian winter recipe with eggplants

Ingredients:

• sweet bell red pepper – 2.5 kg;
• eggplants – 1.5 kg;
• purified water – 1.5 l;
• vinegar essence – 40 ml;
• sunflower – 375 ml;
• non-iodized rock salt – 70 g;
• granulated sugar – 75 g.

Preparation

This option for preparing ajvar involves pre-boiling the sauce components in the marinade. To do this, we wash and remove the stems of the eggplants and peppers, and the latter from the seeds. Then cut the fruits into medium-sized slices. The amount of ingredients in the recipe is indicated in purified form.

Now in a large bowl, mix purified water, salt, granulated sugar, about a third of a glass of refined sunflower oil and vinegar essence. Heat the marinade until it boils and all the crystals dissolve, then add the prepared vegetables to it. We wait for it to boil again and cook the contents of the dish until the pieces of pepper and eggplant are soft. Now remove the vegetables to a colander or sieve and let them drain thoroughly and cool slightly. Next, we turn them through a meat grinder, add the remaining sunflower oil and place the resulting mass in a suitable container for further cooking. The sauce (marinade) can be bottled and used in winter for dressing salads or adding to other dishes to taste.

It is necessary to boil twisted peppers and eggplants with frequent, or even continuous, stirring until soft and thickened. This may take from one and a half to two hours. Taste the ajvar and add sugar or salt if necessary. All that remains is to place the workpiece in sterile and dry jars, seal with sterile lids and leave upside down until it cools completely.

This basic Serbian ajvar recipe can be used as a base for a more savory version of the sauce. To do this, peppers and eggplants can be supplemented with garlic or onions to taste. But the Serbs practically do not use spices.

Macedonian ajvar with tomatoes – appetizer recipe

Ingredients:

• sweet bell red pepper – 1 kg;
• tomatoes – 495 g;
• large garlic head – 1 pc.;
• onions – 155 g;
• vinegar (9%) – 20 ml;
• refined sunflower oil – 55 ml;
• non-iodized rock salt – 60 g;
• granulated sugar – 95 g.

Preparation

Many options for preparing ajvar involve pre-baking the peppers on the grill or in the oven. Thanks to this, the sauce acquires a unique aroma and taste. This Macedonian recipe is no exception, and to implement it, place the washed peppers on a baking sheet and bake until the barrels are golden brown. After this, we place the hot fruits in a bag, tie them for a while, after which we easily remove the skins, also remove the seeds and remove the stalks.

Tomatoes also need to be peeled. To do this, scald them with boiling water for a few seconds, then immediately douse them with ice water and remove the skin without much effort.

Now we grind the pulp of the tomatoes and baked peppers, along with the peeled onions and garlic cloves in a meat grinder and place them in a saucepan or stewpan. For spiciness, you can add a chili pepper if desired. Add sunflower oil and cook the vegetable mixture until almost all the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has a fairly thick texture. Now add salt and granulated sugar, pour in vinegar, boil the mass for five minutes, then place the finished ajvar in sterile dry containers and seal hermetically. It is necessary to additionally leave the workpiece under a warm blanket for self-sterilization, turning the jars upside down.

Not only wealthy people can afford to eat caviar. There is a type of caviar that is accessible to everyone, and its taste will be the envy of even those who can afford to eat the fish delicacy with spoons. And we are not talking about the famous squash caviar, or even eggplant caviar. In Serbia they came up with their own delicacy, which they called “caviar for the poor.” This is the famous Balkan sauce made from tomatoes and bell pepper ajvar. The word comes from the Turkish havyar, which means caviar.
The spicy paste is served with meat, and also simply spread on bread. The dish was so loved that it not only became national, but also spread widely beyond the Balkan Peninsula.

Taste Info Sauces for the winter

Ingredients

• red bell pepper – 2.5 kg,
• tomatoes – 2.5 kg,
• onion – 1 kg,
• garlic – 8 cloves (large),
• vegetable oil – 10 tbsp. spoons,
• strong mustard - 3 teaspoons,
• salt - to taste (about 4 teaspoons),
• sugar - to taste (about 5 tablespoons),
• hot pepper – 8 pods.

How to prepare ajvar sauce for the winter

Usually ajvar is prepared in large portions, red pepper is taken in 25 kg, but I don’t need such volumes, so I will prepare a much smaller portion.
Ajvar is prepared from red bell pepper, which is pre-baked in the oven or oven. Previously, peppers were baked on ordinary wood-burning stoves.
Tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers, and sometimes eggplants are added to the fleshy red pepper.


Let's start cooking. Place the sweet peppers on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes.


Then remove and remove the skin from the pepper. To make it easier to peel the pepper, you can bake it in a sleeve or in a bag. Next, cut the pepper and remove the core.


We pass the tomatoes through a meat grinder or grind them in another way - with a blender.
or using a combine.


Peeled bell peppers, as well as hot peppers and onions, are also passed through a meat grinder.

Squeeze the garlic through a garlic squeezer.


Place all ingredients in a saucepan or bowl for cooking. We start cooking, stir all the time and make sure that the sauce does not burn - this is very important. Cook the ajvar in this way for 20 minutes, then add vegetable oil to it.
After another forty minutes, add vinegar, strong mustard, salt and sugar.


Place on the fire and cook until the mass becomes thick, approximately ajvar takes about one and a half hours, if you are preparing a large portion, it can cook for about two hours.


While the ajvar is brewing, sterilize clean jars over steam or in the oven, and boil the lids.


Place the hot sauce into prepared jars and roll up. Turn it over and leave it in this position for three hours.

Teaser network

Ajvar as a sauce is used as a dressing for vegetable salads, it can be poured over eggplant and carrot salads, pickled carrots, sandwiches are prepared with it, meat dishes are served, delicious ajvar is also served with french fries.

Do you know how the sauce called “Ajvar” is prepared? We will present the recipe for this preparation in the materials of this article. From it you will learn how to make delicious food for the winter and what you will need to purchase for this.

Spicy sauce “Ajvar”: recipe in Serbian

In fact, there are several options for preparing such a workpiece. For the classic recipe we need the following ingredients:

• bell pepper (yellow or red) - ½ kg;
• ripe sweet tomatoes - ½ kg;
• spicy onions - about 300 g;
• hot red pepper - 2 small pods;
• salt, pepper - to your taste;
• garlic cloves (small size) - about 4 pcs.;
• natural table vinegar - 1 large spoon;
• unscented vegetable oil - 1 large spoon;
• Dijon mustard - ½ dessert spoon.

Component processing process

How should you make Ajvar sauce? The recipe (preparing it for the winter is not very difficult) requires careful processing of all components. Fresh vegetables are thoroughly washed and dried. The whole sweet bell pepper is placed in a heat-resistant form and then placed in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. After time has passed, the vegetables are removed, covered with a lid and kept for another ¼ hour. After this, the film, seeds and stalks are carefully removed from them, and then cut into four parts.

Also peel hot onions and garlic cloves separately. They are crushed using a meat grinder. Tomatoes with hot red and sweet bell peppers are also pureed in the same way.

Heat treatment of Serbian sauce on the stove

Ajvar sauce, the recipe for which we are considering, must be cooked in a thick-walled pan. Tomato pulp is alternately placed in it, as well as a puree of onions, garlic, hot and sweet peppers.

After thoroughly mixing the ingredients, place them over medium heat and bring to a boil. After the vegetable mass begins to boil, vegetable oil and various spices are added to it and the sauce is boiled in this composition for about an hour. During this period of time, the vegetable mass should decrease by half, become thicker and more aromatic.

Three minutes before turning off the stove, add table vinegar to the sauce. It is necessary not only to add spiciness to the dish, but also for its long-term storage.

Winter preservation process

How should I preserve Ajvar sauce? The recipe for this snack requires the use of 0.5-liter jars. They are washed and sterilized by any known method. Do exactly the same with tin lids.

After the container is ready, boiling sauce is placed in it and immediately rolled up. The workpiece should not be additionally sterilized. It will remain so throughout the winter.

When can you eat Ajvar sauce?

Now do you know how the hot sauce “Ajvar” is made? The recipe for such a preparation should definitely be kept in your cookbook.

After the sauce is preserved, it is left in the room until it cools completely. Next, the jars are put into the cellar. After keeping the appetizer for about three weeks, it is served at the table along with any hot dishes and a slice of bread.

Delicious eggplant “Ajvar”: recipe

Even an inexperienced housewife can prepare such a sauce for the winter. With eggplants it turns out especially aromatic and tasty. But first things first.

What components do we need to make Ajvar sauce? This snack recipe calls for:

• red sweet peppers - 500 g;
• fresh eggplants - 250 g;
• vegetable oil without aroma - 75 ml;
• garlic cloves - 2 pcs.;
• hot hot pepper - 1 pod;
• salt, vinegar and ground pepper - at your discretion.

Step by step method for preparing vegetable sauce

How to prepare delicious Ajvar sauce with eggplant? The recipe for this snack requires processing all ingredients one by one. First, thoroughly wash the sweet peppers and eggplants. They are dried with paper towels, cut in half lengthwise and greased with vegetable oil. After this, the vegetables are placed on a baking sheet covered with foil and sent to the oven. At a temperature of 190 degrees, the ingredients are baked for ¼ hour.

After the peppers and eggplants have softened, they are removed, cooled and cleaned of seeds, stalks and films. Next, the vegetables are chopped with a blender or a meat grinder is used for this. Garlic cloves with hot hot pepper are also pureed in the same way.

Having carried out the described steps, combine the ingredients in one pan and place on low heat. After the vegetable mass boils, add vegetable oil, salt and pepper. In this composition, the sauce is boiled for about half an hour. Then it is laid out in sterilized jars and sealed with lids.

If you decide to prepare “Ajvar” for immediate consumption, then it is not necessary to add table vinegar to it. Moreover, such a sauce can be heat treated within a few minutes.

What to serve with at the dinner table?

Ajvar sauce with eggplants is best consumed cold. Although there are also housewives who prefer to serve this preparation warm. It is placed in a small bowl and served along with meat, fish or poultry. This spicy snack dish is also ideal with alcoholic drinks. In this case, they make kind of sandwiches from it. To do this, thinly slice the rye bread and then spread it with a small layer of vegetable sauce.

By the way, “Ajvar” is often added to various goulash and stews. It gives dishes a special aroma and taste.

Aivar- This is a dish of Balkan cuisine. Both Serbs, Croats, and Macedonians consider it their national one. Ajvar is a universal product: its consistency and heterogeneous structure allow it to be used as a sauce for meat, as a vegetable side dish, and as a spread on sandwiches.

There is no canonical recipe for ajvar, because in every Balkan family it is cooked in its own way and with different spiciness. The thickness can also vary: from a thin puree to a thick paste. But the presence in the composition sweet pepper, meaty and flavorful, is a must.

Preparing sweet peppers for the winter

INGREDIENTS

• 3 kg red meaty pepper
• 2 onions
• 10 cloves of garlic
• 1 PC. chili pepper
• 250 ml odorless vegetable oil
• 100 ml apple cider vinegar or juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp. l. Sahara
• salt to taste

COOKING

1. Rinse pepper, place on a baking sheet, bake until darkened at a temperature of 200 degrees. It’s great if you have a grill: it will turn out even tastier!
2. Place the baked peppers in a plastic bag and seal the edge. Steam for a few minutes so you can easily remove the skin. Remove the seeds as well.
3. Onion cut into half rings and sauerkraut in a small amount of vegetable oil until golden brown.
4. Browned onion, garlic, chilli and pass the baked peppers through a meat grinder. Pour the mixture into a deep cauldron, pour in oil, add salt, sugar and put on fire.
5. After boiling, cook the sauce for 10 minutes, then taste it, adjust the amount of salt, add vinegar or lemon juice. Bring to a boil again, then pour into sterilized jars, seal and leave covered until completely cool.

Only after trying the ready-made ajvar, you will immediately understand that the efforts and time spent were not in vain! The taste is impossible to tear yourself away from the jar, not to mention the fact that all the neighbors will come running to smell the aroma while the sauce is cooking...

What is the main thing in national dishes? Probably their original, pronounced taste and history with traditions. Ajvar sauce, the recipe for which we bring to your attention today, has both in full. This is a real pearl of Balkan cuisine, prepared for a long time from baked peppers and tomatoes, a kind of caviar (by the way, the name of the dish itself is translated similarly). In Serbia they call it “poor man’s caviar.” But the famous Balkan ajvar is used both as a seasoning for meat main courses, and as an independent dish, which is eaten with bread. The paste can be quite hot. And garlic, onions and eggplants are often added to peppers.

The most important thing is pepper!

There is by no means just one recipe for ajvar; the culinary world knows many variations of it. But they are all united by one characteristic feature: they contain bell pepper. And you need to prepare it for inclusion in the dish according to all the rules. To do this, all the peppers allocated for cooking are washed, laid out on a baking sheet and sent to the oven. The mode should be set to “hard”, but you should monitor the process so that the vegetable does not turn into embers. And at least once the pods need to be turned over! On average, baking takes a third of an hour.

Let's continue processing

The next tedious but necessary step is peeling the pepper. To make it less sticky, you can use a sleeve for baking. Or, pour cold water over the vegetables immediately after removing them from the oven. Only after “exposure” can you remove the seeds from the pod and grind it into hot sauce.

By the way, if there are any problems with the oven, you can fry the peppers (dry and covered) or use a multicooker in baking mode and, again, without oil.

Ajvar for the winter: “modest” version

That is, with a minimum of ingredients. At least, according to the authors of the recipe. Serbian ajvar sauce includes only sweet peppers, which we have already talked about, tomatoes, onions, hot pods and some additives. The main components - tomatoes and bell peppers - are taken in equal quantities. For example, 2.5 kilos. In this case, you will need a kilogram of onion, a head of garlic (small), and something spicy, “spark” or chili, eight pods.

Cooking is easy!

First, the tomatoes are ground, then the prepared sweet peppers, then the onions. Garlic is crushed in any way that suits you and added to the total mass. All the good stuff is put into a large container and placed on the stove. The recipe recommends simmering ajvar for about a third of an hour, after which vegetable oil is poured in. On average, it takes about ten spoons. And the total cooking time can take from an hour to two - this will depend on the volume you have taken on. At the very end, salt, sugar and mustard are added. You should focus on your preferences. For the first time, you can try the standard proportions: four spoons of salt, five large spoons of sugar and two coffee spoons of mustard.

Package

The Serbian ajvar recipe allows you to store the sauce for a year, and possibly longer (it’s just that the seasoning is usually eaten much faster). If you want to prolong the pleasure, the container for storing ajvar and the lids for sealing need to be sterilized in any way convenient for you, the sauce should be put into jars while hot, rolled up and cooled in the “upside down” position. But you can store it anywhere, a cellar is not necessary. Unless the top of the kitchen cabinets, where the heat from the stove constantly rises, would not be the most suitable place.

Eggplant option

Another ajvar, the recipe of which is no less popular than the one already described. The main difference is the addition of eggplant to the list of ingredients. They are taken at half the weight of the bell pepper. And you should do the same with the blue ones. That is, put it in the oven along with the main component. Before baking, eggplants need to be pricked on all sides (a fork or toothpick is suitable for this purpose). This version of hot sauce will be tastier if the hot pepper (half a pod per kilo of sweet, but no one forbids taking more) with onions and garlic are first fried in a frying pan with vegetable oil.

Next, the baked eggplants are peeled and chopped into tiny cubes, complemented by frying and seasoned with salt (two level spoons), sugar (twice as much), or optionally with herbs and ground pepper. Peppers chopped almost until smooth are added here and wine vinegar is poured in (preferably red, the calculation is a spoonful of liquid per half a kilo of mass).

In fact, this ajvar sauce is intended to be consumed in the near future. If you want to save it until the winter holidays, place it in hot sterilized jars, seal and store in a cool place for up to an hour.

Super spicy ajvar: recipe in Serbian

This option is not suitable for simple people who are not accustomed to heat. Or they will be able to consume “caviar” in very limited quantities. Simply because it uses not sweet peppers, but hot ones. Moreover, the sauce requires that same long, oblong and extremely hot variety, the mere smell of which makes your eyes water. And you will need a whole kilogram of pods - despite the fact that only half a kilogram of “softening” tomatoes will go into it. On the other hand, the spiciness will not be enhanced by garlic and onions (according to the recipe, only two heads are taken).

Since we are not talking about sweet peppers here, there is no need to bake them (a unique recipe among others). All vegetables are cleaned (and gloves will not be superfluous, at least when “gutting” hot peppers), blended in a blender and placed in a saucepan with a thick bottom. To avoid burning and to add a Mediterranean note to the ajvar sauce, you can add three tablespoons of olive oil to the mixture. From the moment it boils, this delicacy will have to be simmered on the fire for about forty minutes, with regular stirring, so be patient. About ten minutes before it’s ready, you’ll need to pour vinegar into the sauce, either balsamic or white wine. Hot ajvar is poured into jars, screwed or capped - and stored without refrigerators or cellars. It is so pungent that it becomes its own preservative.

By the way. If white and balsamic vinegars are rare guests in your household, use lime juice. The effect is the same, perhaps the taste will become even more interesting and piquant, even if it turns out to be less pronounced.

Experiments are welcome

The recipe for ajvar for the winter is very variable. However, like most culinary delights. You can simply cut all the vegetables from the list that arouse your liking into cubes (preferably small ones), add salt, season with spices and bake in the oven until nicely crispy. Flipping is a must! The released juices will be enough to form the desired consistency. And if it seems that there are not enough of them, and the sauce comes out too thick, you can always supplement it with tomato juice with interesting additions. And not only tomato, by the way - there are a lot of interesting options. This “stew” can be rolled into jars - and it will be a completely full-fledged ajvar. And don't be afraid to experiment with a variety of aromatic herbs and spices. In the end, they are the ones who “make” the taste; they are the ones who are able to create a true culinary masterpiece from any primitive element. So you have every chance to make a name for yourself in the culinary community as a real genius if you can create a good composition of seasonings.

So try your luck, experiment, and don’t be afraid to take risks! Someday, a gourmet will be ready to give everything he has, including his soul, for a jar of your version of ajvar!