Best Roasted Red Pepper And Eggplant Spread Macedonian Tolcheni Recipes

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.

ROASTED EGGPLANT SPREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.
• Cool slightly.
• Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the tomato paste, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend. Taste for salt and pepper.

SPICY RED-PEPPER AND EGGPLANT CONFIT

Steps:

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Cut peppers into 1-inch pieces. Toss together all ingredients in a large roasting pan, then spread evenly. Roast, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender, about 1 hour. Cool before serving.

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 RED BELL PEPPERS WITH EGGPLANT (FUNGHETTO)

Steps:

• For the peppers: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Spray a small baking dish or baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray. Arrange the peppers, cut side-up, on the baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil. Bake until the peppers are tender but still holding their shape, about 20 minutes.
• For the eggplant: Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Add the eggplant in batches and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with salt.
• For the filling: Combine the cooked eggplant, tomato-basil sauce, olives, capers, salt and pepper in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.
• For the topping: In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan.
• Preheat the broiler.
• Spoon the filling into the bell peppers and sprinkle the topping over the filling. Drizzle with the olive oil and broil until a golden crust forms, 2 to 3 minutes.

EGGPLANT AND ROASTED-PEPPER PASTA

Steps:

• Place peppers directly over a gas flame and cook, turning occasionally, until charred all over, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; cover with plastic wrap until cool enough to handle. Rub off charred skin with a paper towel; discard. Remove and discard seeds. Cut peppers into 1/4-inch strips.
• Meanwhile, heat 1/3 cup oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add eggplants, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt; stir to combine. Add 1/3 cup water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed, until eggplants are very tender but still hold shape, 10 minutes. Stir in oregano; cook 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl; add peppers, remaining 1/3 cup oil, vinegar, parsley, and cheese. Let stand while cooking pasta.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta; cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup liquid, then drain. Toss pasta with eggplant mixture until fully coated (add pasta water if needed to moisten, 1/4 cup at a time). Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley leaves, and serve.

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND RED PEPPER TOPPING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Toss vegetables with oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then spread in an oiled large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pan. Roast vegetables in middle of oven, stirring occasionally, until tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack, then coarsely mash with a potato masher and stir in basil.

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND RED BELL PEPPER SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly oil a foil-lined baking sheet. Place bell peppers, cut-sides down, on the baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until beginning to char, about 45 minutes.
• While peppers roast, score eggplant flesh deeply in a diamond cross-hatch pattern with the tip of a knife. Press on the edges of the halves to open the cuts and sprinkle salt over the surface and into the cuts. Set aside, cut-sides up, for 30 minutes.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently squeeze the eggplant over the sink to extract the salty juice and wipe them dry with a paper towel. Brush each half with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Arrange each half, cut-side down, on the lined baking sheet.
• Remove bell peppers from the oven and cover with a dish towel. Let stand for 5 minutes. Leave the oven on.
• Roast eggplant in the preheated oven until tender, about 45 minutes. Peel, seed, and slice the peppers while eggplant is roasting.
• Whisk 3 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic, garlic, and chili sauce together in a separate bowl. Slice 4 artichoke hearts; reserve any remaining artichoke hearts for another use.
• Let eggplant cool for at least 20 minutes before handling. Turn flesh-side up. Use a kitchen knife to scrape the flesh from the skin. Divide the flesh along the score lines into cubes. Discard skin.
• Combine eggplant, bell peppers, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Sprinkle with pepper. Pour dressing over vegetables and mix together. Garnish with basil leaves.

EGGPLANT AND RED PEPPER BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Mix red bell pepper, onion, and garlic in a large mixing bowl; season with basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the pepper mixture; toss to coat the vegetables evenly.
• Brush eggplant slices with olive oil to coat thinly.
• Spread about 1/3 of the pepper mixture into the bottom of a square glass baking dish; top with a layer of about 1/3 of the eggplant. Repeat layering twice more. Top final layer with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is browned and the vegetables are bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.

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.

ROASTED EGGPLANT SPREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Mix first 4 ingredients. Place vegetables in a large bowl; toss with oil mixture. Transfer to a 15x10x1-in. pan coated with cooking spray. Roast vegetables until softened and lightly browned, 45-50 minutes, stirring once., Transfer to a food processor; cool slightly. Add tomato paste; pulse just until blended (mixture should be chunky)., Transfer to a bowl; cool completely. Serve with baguette slices or crackers.