Eggplant Mushrooms Vegetable Spread

Thursday, December 30, 2010

As part of my periodical "empty the refrigerator" campaign, today I proceeded to the "before New Year's Eve" session and got out the following:

- 3 medium eggplants

- 3 bell peppers

- 3 10oz boxes of pre-cleaned sliced mushrooms

- 2 large yellow onions

- 4 large garlic cloves

To these I added vegetable oil, 2 bay leaves, salt, freshly ground black pepper, hot paprika or chile pepper (if desired), 1 tablespoon tomato paste, about 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

Ca parte a campaniei mele periodice de golit frigiderul, in cadrul sesiunii de azi "inaintea Anului Nou", am scos urmatoarele:
- 3 vinete medii
- 3 ardei grasi
- 3 cutii a aproximativ 300 gr de ciuperci, gata curatate si feliate
- 2 cepe mari
- 4 catei maaaari de usturoi
La astea am adaugat ulei, 2 foi de dafin, sare, piper negru proaspat macinat, paprica de ardei iute (daca doriti), 1 lingura pasta de tomate, cam 1 cana si jumatate de sos de rosii.

First I grilled the eggplants and the bell peppers. My recommendation to you is to use the oven and broil them, otherwise you may have to deal with the nice smoke alarm ;)
By the time I got the camera, the eggplants were grilled, their skin cleaned off, and the flesh put to drain, so I'll show you just the bell peppers, 2 on the grill, the third done already

Coaceti vinetele si ardeii, curatati-i, lasati vinetele la scurs

Place the grilled peppers in a container to sweat, sprinkle with salt and cover, let them sit for about 10-15 minutes. This will help peeling the skin off.

Clean the onions then puree them

Curatati cepele si dati-le prin blender

Chop the mushrooms

Tocati si ciupercile

In a Dutch oven heat about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, then add the onion puree, let it 3-4 minutes to soften

Intr-o cratita incingeti cam 100 ml ulei, apoi adaugati ceapa si lasati-o 3-4 minute la inmuiat

Add the mushrooms and 1/2 cup white wine (if desired), then allow to cook on low heat for about 30 minutes

Adaugati ciupercile si 100 ml de vin alb sec (daca doriti) si lasati sa fiarba la foc domol cam jumatate de ora

Add the grilled bell peppers, cleaned and chopped and stir very well

Adaugati ardeii copti, tocati si amestecati bine

Add the grilled eggplants, also chopped, and stir

Adaugati si vinetele curatate si tocate, amestecati

Add the tomato paste and the tomato sauce, stir again

Adaugati pasta si sosul de tomate

Add salt and pepper to taste, the bay leaves, hot paprika (if using), stir, cover and let it boil on low heat for 1.5 hours

Potriviti de sare si piper, adaugati foile de dafin, boia de ardei iute (daca folositi), amestecati, acoperiti si lasati sa fiarba la foc mic 1,5 ore

Serve warm or cold, on fresh crusty bread or on toast. Or just plain. You could maybe use tortilla chips or something similar

Serviti calda sau rece, pe paine proaspata sau prajita, sau fara nimic. Puteti eventual folosi chipsuri

The quantities I used resulted in about 2 quarts of spread. Refrigerate the leftovers in a covered container and use within 7-8 days. Don't forget to remove the bay leaves before serving!