Olga Usishcheva’s Lecho
What makes this lecho work isn’t the vegetable list but the patience behind it: the sliced tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and onions marinate twice in a sweet-sour brine, six hours each round, before they ever meet heat. That double soak draws the juices out so the peppers absorb flavor and stay springy instead of collapsing into mush once the pot finally boils.
The whitish, uniform mass the recipe mentions is simply an emulsion of oil and vegetable juice. Stir it in fully and evenly; a careless mix lets the oil separate and leaves a greasy layer on top. The ratio is easy to hold in your head: three kilograms of tomatoes (about 6.5 lb) to one kilogram each of the rest. Reach for meaty plum tomatoes, since watery ones flood the pot and force you to reduce the sauce twice as long.
The vinegar is only 3%, so the result reads gently tangy rather than sharp. For shelf storage, seal with metal lids and save any plastic lids for jars you’ll eat from the fridge within a few weeks. Serve it cold, next to boiled potatoes, grilled meat, or a slice of dark rye.
Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 302 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Slice the tomatoes, peppers, and onions into rings, and grate the carrots on the coarse side of a box grater.
Layer the vegetables in a large basin and let them sit for 6 hours so they release their juices.
Make the brine: combine the oil, sugar, salt, and vinegar. Pour it over the vegetables and stir thoroughly until a uniform whitish mass forms. Let it rest for another 6 hours.
Stir once more, set over the heat, and once it comes to a boil, cook for 20 minutes.
Ladle the hot lecho into sterilized jars and seal them (even plastic lids will do).
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