Lecho with tomato paste: 4 excellent recipes for winter preparations - how to prepare a delicious vegetable salad with tomato paste for the winter

Take some pasta

Choosing a tomato base is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. Manufacturers may add additional components to their products: various preservatives, flavors and starch.Ideally, the labeling of a jar of pasta that complies with GOST should contain only tomato paste, water and salt. Therefore, you should carefully read the label to buy truly tasty and high-quality tomato paste.

Many housewives already have a favorite owl product in mind from a certain manufacturer. If you are completely satisfied with the taste of such a paste, then you can safely use it.

If you make your own tomato paste or juice at home, then they can also be used for winter preparations. An example of this is a recipe for zucchini lecho with homemade tomato juice.

Preparing jars

It must be said right away that there is no need to sterilize the finished lecho product. Salads are simply rolled into jars that have been preliminary preparation. Before use, the lids are scalded with boiling water, thereby disinfecting them. After packaging, the lecho is wrapped in a warm cloth until it cools completely.

How to cook vegetable lecho with pasta

Classic of the genre - pepper salad

The ingredients for this recipe are minimal:

• sweet pepper (ideally red bell pepper) – 1.5 kilograms (peeled);
• ready-made paste - 350 milliliters jar;
• white sugar – 2.5 tablespoons;
• table salt (suitable for preservation) – 1 tablespoon;
• water – 800 milliliters;
• table vinegar - 2 tablespoons.

The peppers are thoroughly washed, cleaned of films and stalks with seeds. The pulp is cut with wheels or plates. It is worth saying that in the finished dish, pods cut into long strips 1.5-2 centimeters wide look more impressive. For all recipes below that contain pepper, the pre-treatment will be similar.

Next, prepare the sauce: mix all the ingredients except vinegar in a wide saucepan and bring them to a boil over heat.

Important: If tomato paste contains salt, then the initial amount of this ingredient in the recipe must be adjusted to your taste.

Place sliced ​​peppers into the boiling base, reduce the heat, and simmer the lecho until tender for half an hour.

Vinegar 9% is added 3 minutes before the end of cooking.

Sergey Mashtakov shares his video recipe for lecho with tomato paste.

With carrots and onions

This recipe can also be considered classic, since most lecho is made from assorted vegetables.

Product composition:

• pepper (you can use assorted colors - yellow, green and red pods, so the dish will look more “elegant”) - 1 kilogram of net weight;
• carrots - 3-4 medium-sized root vegetables (400 grams);
• onion – 300 grams;
• tomato paste – 450 gram jar;
• vegetable oil – 120 milliliters;
• 5 cloves of winter garlic;
• water - 800 milliliters;
• salt – 50 grams;
• sugar – 100 grams;
• vinegar - 50 milliliters.

Carrots are peeled and cut into wheels or cubes. It is very convenient to chop root vegetables using a Korean carrot grater. The onion is chopped into half rings or large cubes - according to the chef’s wishes.

All vegetables, except garlic, are poured with hot sauce prepared from all liquid ingredients (vinegar is not added yet). Cook the lecho for 40 minutes without covering the pan with a lid.

5 minutes before it’s ready, pour vinegar into the salad and add crushed cloves of aromatic garlic. Without turning off the heat, the lecho is packaged.

Also worthy of your attention is an interesting option for preparing Bulgarian lecho with the addition of grain beans.

“First Countryside” also knows the recipe for lecho with carrots. Here he is!

With fried vegetables

The preparation acquires a special taste if the vegetables (carrots and onions) are lightly fried. For this cooking method, use the ratio of products, as in the previous recipe.

The cooking sequence changes: the entire volume of vegetable oil is added to the pan. Once it is thoroughly heated, add the onion. The slices should be saturated with oil and become translucent.

Attention! Under no circumstances should the onion be browned to a golden color. The oil just needs to absorb the aroma of this vegetable.

The next step is to add chopped carrots. For this recipe, it is best to grate it on a coarse grater. Saute the carrots until a pleasant carrot aroma appears.

The further algorithm of actions is the same as in the recipe above: add peppers, pour in the sauce and simmer until tender. Garlic and vinegar - at the very end.

In a slow cooker

Winter preparation of lecho prepared in a slow cooker is recommended for those who do not want to fill the entire cellar with jars of various goodies. This is due to the fact that the volume of the cooking container is quite small. You can prepare a maximum of 2 medium-sized jars at a time.

Product composition:

• tomato paste – 200 grams;
• vegetable oil – 6 tablespoons;
• water – 150 milliliters;
• salt – 1.5 teaspoons;
• sugar – 3 teaspoons;
• sweet peppers – 500 grams;
• zucchini – 1 piece (500 grams);
• carrots - 1 root vegetable;
• onion – 1 large head;
• vinegar - 1 tablespoon (strength 9%).

Vegetables are cut randomly. It is best to chop onions and zucchini into cubes, carrots into thin strips, and peppers into large squares.

In the “Frying” mode, first sauté the onions and carrots, and then add the remaining vegetables and a mixture of tomato paste, water and spices to the frying. The device is switched to the “Extinguishing” mode. Simmer the lecho under the lid for 25 minutes. To prevent the food from burning, stir the mixture from time to time with a silicone spatula.

Before the timer ends, vinegar is added, and after the signal, the hot mass is placed in sterile jars.

You will see detailed information about cooking zucchini-eggplant lecho in a saucepan here.

And finally, an interesting and unusual recipe for cucumber lecho with the addition of ready-made tomato paste from Yulia Heilik.

Spices for lecho

In addition to garlic, other spices can also enhance the taste of lecho. The most commonly used are bay leaves and peppercorns. Spicy herbs with a bright aroma are also popular: dill, parsley and celery. Fans of spicy foods can add a few wheels of hot pepper or a spoonful of ready-made adjika to the preparation.

Storage options

No exceptional conditions are required for storing cans of lecho. It is enough to have a cool room (cellar) or refrigerator. If there is not enough space in the latter, then the blanks can be stored simply on the floor in the room, placing them closer to the window or balcony.