I promised to make this year Zacusca, or romanian roasted vegetables spread. I wanted to make a more special one, I got a little tired of the classic one with eggplant and peppers. I really liked the recipe, it is quite simple to prepare, the vegetables do not have to be cooked, they are only quickly passed through the mincer.
I only made half of the amount of ingredients, because I didn't have a kettle or pan that could hold more than 3-4 liters of zacusca. I got 10 jars of 300ml plus a bowl for tasting and pictures. It was very good, delicious, especially after it cooled well in the fridge. I recommend with confidence.
Wash the mushrooms and put them to boil, when they start to boil, leave them for 10 minutes and then drain them well.
Then heat them a little in oil, lower the water and brown. Put them in a sieve and let them drain the oil.
And finally, pass them through the mincer.
The donuts are washed, cleaned and put through the mincer, then put them in a sieve to drain the juice well.
Then the peppers, as well, wash, clean and pass through the mincer. I drained them too.
And the last one is the onion. Clean it, wash it and pass it through the mincer.
And now we have all the vegetables ready and we start to prepare the zacusca effectively.
Pour the oil into a cauldron, pan or deep frying pan. When it heats up, add the onion and salt, stir periodically and let it brown, soften and evaporate the liquid from it.
Then add to the onion the donuts and peppers given through the mincer and drained of juice. Keep the juice until another step.
And now a little patience - you will have to let all this cook well, about 1 hour, until you see that the oil rises to the surface, you see that it changes color and becomes softer, more appetizing. Stir periodically and bring to a boil over medium heat.
When you see that the above composition is almost ready, prepare the tomato broth. Boil the broth and juice left by the donuts and peppers in a saucepan. This is so that when you add them to the pan they do not change their temperature.
Pour the broth and donut juice, mix well and let it boil for another 20-30 minutes on medium heat.
After this time add the chopped mushrooms, mix well and simmer the whole composition. I let it boil for about 1.5 hours, because I like the thicker zacusca, not too liquid, so I can easily eat it on the bread. Leave a little zacusca to cool, and see if more salt needs to be added. Suitable for your taste.
Prepare the jars, wash them and put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes to dry well and sterilize.
Fill the jars with zacusca, put the aspirin in order to be safe without problems in winter. I put about 1/4 pill in a 300ml jar, I usually calculate 1 pill per 1 liter of liquid. So depending on what kind of jars you use, calculate the proportion.
Staple the jars well, leave no air and let them cool completely. Here you see all the 10 jars I made.
It's delicious cold, on bread - I ate it next to a lentil pate - super tasty!
Thank you very much Ioana for this wonderful recipe.
Good appetite!