Zacusca (Romanian Vegetable Spread)

• 3 kg medium-large eggplant (any variety)
• 500 g onion, finely chopped or grated
• 1 kg red bell pepper of the gogoșar variety
• 1 kg bell pepper
• 200 g tomato paste
• 3 tbsp salt
• 700 ml sunflower oil
• 20 dried black peppercorns
• 4–6 dried bay leaves

Ingredients for 15 servings (6.4 kg) · the original recipeShow how each ingredient was counted

Method

1. 1

   Roast the eggplants and peppers until their skins are charred and easily removable by hand. Skin the vegetables. The pepper skins should come off easily in long strips. The eggplant skin might retain some of the flesh; some people like to take the back of the knife over the skin to remove that flesh and use it because it has a smokey flavor, but you can easily discard it if pressed for time.

2. 2

   Dice the eggplants and peppers in 1–2 cm cubes. The peppers will retain their shape, but the eggplant flesh is mushy so don't worry if your cubes aren't perfect shapes, they will disintegrate more when cooking and that is the goal.

3. 3

   In a large nonstick skillet, sauté the onions in the oil over medium until golden.

   Stovetop
4. 4

   Add the peppers to the onions. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

5. 5

   Stir in the eggplants, tomato paste, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Simmer until the oil comes to the surface.

   Stovetop
6. 6

   Can the mixture in sterilized jars. Store in a cool place. If you don't want to can, zacusca can be stored in the fridge and consumed within a few days, like any stew. If that is the case, given the large quantity you just made, invite over a few friends and smear the spread on thin-to-medium slices of a baguette. Bon appetite!