Ajvar (Red Pepper Sauce from the Balkans)
A versatile red pepper and aubergine sauce typical of the Balkans. It goes well with meat kebabs or stirred into a pasta as a sauce. Super simple to make too!
Ingredients
- 3 red peppers
- 2 small aubergines
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 lemon juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Roast the whole peppers and aubergines on two small baking trays (just in case one roasts quicker than the other). They will appear shrivled and blackened when done. About 30 mintues.
- Once roasted, place both the aubergines and peppers into separate bowls and cover with cling film. Leave them both for 10 minutes to cool.
- Carefully peel off the skin from the pepper (they might still be hot!) and scoop out the seeds into the bowl. Put the pepper straight into the blender. Cut the aubergine in half, scoop out the flesh and put into the blender too.
- Add the olive oil, lemon, garlic and salt. Blend until chunky or smooth (like mine). Be wary if using a Nutri-bullet like me, as it will not blend chunky. It's too powerful!
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge for about a week, or freeze for future use!
Notes
Storage - you can keep this red peppers dip in a sealed container, in a fridge, for about a week. If you've still got some left by the end, make a huge batch pasta of pasta, stir it in and freeze for future dinners!
Freezing - this sauce is freezable. Either freeze in a container, a zip-lock freezer bag or even better, ice-cube containers to use as little cubes of flavour to stir into casseroles etc. Will freeze for 3 months.
Nutrition
Calories: 467kcalCarbohydrates: 76gProtein: 13gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gSodium: 2359mgPotassium: 2873mgFiber: 35gSugar: 48gVitamin A: 11473IUVitamin C: 483mgCalcium: 111mgIron: 4mg
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