I know it sounds weird, that's how I reacted when I heard about the combination - but I kept getting upset and after many praises of that I said I would try it. And I was "rewarded" in full - I've never eaten such a successful and delicious spread.
I will definitely repeat it in the coming years, in fact that is the reason why I put it on the site, to find it here next year.
Because zacusca is prepared not quite simply and banally, I would recommend you do it in 2 days - that is in 2 steps.
On the first day prepare the vegetables (bake, clean, wash) and on the second day make zacusca.
First bake the eggplant, peppers and donuts (optionally you can only bake eggplant, put the other 2 raw, but I recommend you bake them anyway :)
Clean them and prepare them for zacusca.
You can use the canned tomatoes from the store or from the fresh market, but with a little work on them - I scalded, peeled and robotized.
The onion is cleaned and passed through the mincer or through the food processor (I passed them all through the robot, so it goes on and on). So are apples, peeled, robot or grated.
Celery and carrots are cleaned, washed and passed through the robot, to grind well.
Now we start to temper them all - separately, then combine them in the order I tell you below.
In a deeper and larger pan, sauté the onion with apples and oil.
In a larger cauldron (because in it you will combine all the ingredients) put the carrots with celery and oil.
After the onion has softened well, add it to the carrot and celery composition (and let them cook well).
And because the camera battery "died" here, I'll tell you what I did with peppers, donuts and eggplant - I can't show you all the steps.
So I put all this through the robot and hardened them with a little oil until they got hot, then I added them to the above composition.
In case you don't have baked peppers and donuts, simply put them through the robot and cook well until soft.
I boiled the tomatoes so simple, to be hot when I add them to the zacusca and I put them in the cauldron as well.
Mix well the whole composition as you put the vegetables.
And let it simmer, stirring periodically for about 1.30 - 2 hours. Be careful to mix it as it throws hot drops.
While the zacusca is boiling, prepare the jars - wash them and dry them in the oven at 100-150 degrees - or dry them in time in the sun or on a towel.
After the zacusca has boiled well, notice that the oil rises on top, a sign that it is ready - then add the honey and season with salt.
Fill the jars with hot zacusca and staple them tightly, tightly.
After filling all the jars, put them on an oven tray and leave for 150-40 minutes at 150 degrees - to sterilize the jars and their contents.
Then let the jars cool completely, stick labels and put in a cool place away from zacusca lovers :)
And here to make you crave, on homemade black bread - it quickly ran down your throat and not a single slice :)
Good appetite!