Lecho – Bell Pepper, Tomato and Onion Stew
Lecho is a bell pepper and tomato stew that is cooked together and then preserved in jars for months to enjoy as a side dish or simply as a topping on black bread. This recipe has the addition of carrots, onions and garlic to add more flavor and texture.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 5 (32 oz) jars 1x
- Category: Sides
Ingredients
Scale
- 5 large onions
- 2 lbs carrots
- 4 lbs red bell peppers
- 8 cups tomato vegetable juice
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
- 4–6 garlic cloves, minced
- salt, ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Prep all the veggies. Slice the onions into half circles, peel and slice the carrots thinly and cut the bell peppers into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces (remove the seeds and stems).
- In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, pour in the tomato juice and bring it to a boil, then reduce to a very low simmer.
- While the tomato juice is coming up to a boil, in a large skillet, heat up about a tablespoon of oil and then saute all the veggies in batches, seasoning each batch with salt and ground black pepper to taste. The veggies should be softened and cooked through, but still have a bit of crispness in them, not mushy and falling apart.
- Saute the onions and carrots in 2 batches each and the bell peppers in 3 batches. After each batch is sauteed, place the veggies into the pot of tomato juice. Keep adding each batch of sauteed veggies into the tomato juice and add more oil to the skillet before sauteing the next batch.
- Cover the pan with a lid to make the process faster. You can also use 2 skillets. Cook the veggies on medium heat and if the bottom of the skillet is getting too brown before the veggies are cooked through, add a bit of water.
- After the onions, carrots and bell peppers are all sauteed and added to the tomato juice, add the sugar, vinegar and minced garlic. Season with salt, if needed. That will depend on the tomato juice that you use. Bring it all to a boil, covered, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.
- If you will serve the Lecho within 2 weeks, you can just store it in mason jars in the refrigerator, but if you want to preserve it longer, sterilize the jars and pressure can them. In that case, you can store them at room temperature or in cold storage for at least a year.
- Sterilize the jars and lids. Pour the hot Lecho into the sterilized jars, wipe the rims, screw on the sterilized lids.
- Place the jars into boiling water and make sure they are covered with water up to the top of the jars. Boil for at about 10 minutes. Take the jars out of the boiling water. Cool the jars in a towel for about 12 hours. The lid should be concave. Preserved lecho will be good for at least a year.