Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Spread (Zacusca) – a most delicious vegetable spread and a perfect snack that’s popular in Eastern Europe.
I am so excited to share this recipe with you. I grew up eating this vegetable spread and it’s one of my favorite snacks. Though I have to confess, as a child I used to hate this, because like most children I hated vegetables. However as I grew up and smartened up, I realized how delicious this was.
Now if you’ve never heard of this vegetable spread, let me tell you now, it’s unbelievable. We usually eat it on bread just like you see in the pictures, it’s meant as a snack or an appetizer. Zacusca is the Romanian word, and this spread is pretty popular in Eastern Europe. There are two different types of peppers used here, regular red bell peppers and pimento peppers which usually are found at farmer’s markets. This is why I made this now, because you can find these pimento peppers in abundance at any farmer’s market.
This recipe here is my mother’s recipe which I have modified just a bit. My mom’s recipe calls for almost double the oil I have listed and double the salt, so as I try and make these recipes a bit healthier I wanted to reduce the oil and salt and see if there was a noticeable difference, and I’m proud to say there wasn’t any at all. Still tastes just like my mom’s.
This was the first time I attempted to make this, mostly because I never really make anything canned, and it is quite a bit of work, but the final outcome is so worth it and you will not regret it. So most of the work involves roasting all the eggplants and the peppers. The easiest way to do this is use your BBQ grill. You grill all the eggplants and peppers until they are charred, then remove the skin and the seeds from the peppers. This is probably the most time consuming, cleaning up all the peppers so that only the flesh remains. Once this is done you’re pretty much home free. All that’s needed to do is to cook the spread and sterilize the jars.
The sterilizing technique here is my dad’s, so if you have another way feel free to do it your way. Basically what I did to sterilize the jars is boil them in hot water first for about 10 minutes. After that, just before the spread is ready to be canned, you place the jars, lids off, in the oven at 180 F degrees for 10 minutes. Take them out and carefully fill the jars so that there is about an inch left from the top, place the lid onto the rim and, using one finger to hold the lid securely, twist on the screw band until it’s tight. Once this is done with all the jars, place them back in the oven and continue baking for another 15 minutes, after which you can turn off the oven, and let them cool in there.
One other thing I’d like to mention here is that the quantities listed in the recipe is what you need after the eggplants and peppers have been roasted and cleaned, not before, so to get 2 kg of roasted eggplant, you should double that when you purchase them, same with the peppers. You can also cut down the recipe, these quantities here will product 12 jars of 500 ml each. When you measure and if you end up with more eggplant than needed you can always use that to make this delicious eggplant salad, and if you have leftover roasted peppers, use that to make roasted peppers with garlic sauce, it’s to die for.
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
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Roasted Eggplant and Pepper Spread
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 lbs eggplant grilled until charred
- 4 1/2 lbs red bell peppers grilled until charred
- 4 1/2 lbs pimento peppers grilled until charred
- 2.2 lbs onions chopped
- 34 oz vegetable oil
- 50 oz tomato sauce
- 5 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp black pepper ground
- 5 bay leaves
Instructions
- To grill the eggplants, make sure you poke holes with a knife, so they don't explode. Grill them until soft and charred. After the eggplants have cooled off, remove the peel, using a knife, if you've cooked them enough, the peel should come off easily.
- Grill the peppers, or roast them in the oven until they are almost completely charred.
- Let cool and remove all the peel and seeds from them and wash them well.
- Place the eggplant in a colander and let it drain off any excess water. Do the same with the peppers. This may take about half hour or so.
- The next step you can do in small batches, depends how big your food processor is, but place some eggplant into the food processor and pulse a few times until the eggplant is finely chopped but you don't want it to be look like a paste. Repeat the same with the peppers.
- In a very large pot heat the oil and add the onions. Cook the onions until soft, make sure not to burn them. They should just start to change color.
- Carefully add the eggplant and peppers and stir using a wooden spoon. Add tomato sauce. Add the salt, black pepper and bay leaves. This will require 3 hours of cooking over low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, I stirred every 10 minutes, just so that it doesn't stick to the bottom.
- In the meantime, boil the jars in hot water first for about 10 minutes. After that, just before the spread is ready to be canned, you place the jars, lids off, in the oven at 180 F degrees for 10 minutes. Take them out and carefully fill the jars so that there is about an inch left from the top, place the lid onto the rim and, using one finger to hold the lid securely, twist on the screw band until it’s tight. Once this is done with all the jars, place them back in the oven and continue baking for another 15 minutes, after which you can turn off the oven, and let them cool in there.
Peter says
Fabulous recipe that my wife said was just like she remembered from her childhood. The only change I made was to add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar to bring the pH a bit lower. Since eggplant and peppers are close to neutral pH, I wanted to be sure to get the pH below the critical level for bacteria (botulism). I suspect the tomato sauce would get it close, but I wanted to be more certain.
jo says
I’m so glad you like this! 🙂
Emilia Dragne says
Thank you very much, I was looking for a zakuska recipe to recommend it to my friends in USA. I’m not sure what a serving is? 2 tbsp maybe?
Joanna Cismaru says
Well, basically this will produce 12 jars and I calculated it based on 4 servings per jar, so that’s about 1/4 of a jar per serving. I never just eat 2 tbsp. 🙂
Kelly says
I ate this a long time ago and never found the perfect recipe. I’ll gonna make it soon but I will be cutting the recipe in half coz that’s a lot for 2 people. I hope it works and do you recommend doing anything if i cut it in half?
Joanna Cismaru says
No, I don’t think anything different is necessary, good luck with it!
klaudia says
Jo,
Sper ca inca stii romana 🙂
Cautam de zor o reteta de zacusca, de cand sunt in SUA nu am mai mancat si era una dintre preparatele mele preferate. Iti multumesc din suflet pentru reteta si evident, am s-o incerc in weekend-ul asta. Te imbratisez cu drag si ma bucur ca asm dat de blogul tau!
jo says
Da bineinteles ca inca mai stiu romana. 🙂 Imi pare foarte bine ca ai dat de blogul meu. Sper sa incerci zacusca mea, e foarte buna. 🙂
klaudia says
Esti minunata!
Iti las un mesaj aici dupa ce o fac sa-ti spun cum a fost. 🙂
jo says
Abia astept! 🙂
simona says
Hi Jo, you have another great recipe here! It’s really similar to how we make it, but i cut down on the oil as well. What is it with Romanian mothers and oil? 😉 I was wondering if you’ve ever tried making a version of zacusca with zucchini in it? Tis the season for zucchini over abundance and I’m always looking for recipes to incorporate it into. Thanks again for your site. I’ve enjoyed many recipes on here and I’ve pinned many more to try. I really appreciate all the work you put into sharing these recipes with us. Enjoy your weekend!
jo says
Hi Simona!
I have to say I’ve never tried zacusca with zucchini. Yes zucchini season is upon us but honestly I never even heard of it. I’ll have to look into it or ask my mom or mother in law. You have a great weekend as well. 🙂
MaRie says
You forgot to leave the instructions on when to put the tomato sauce, but I assumed it was when you added in the eggplant/peppers. I have been dying to make this since I saw it on Pinterest but seeing it’s offseason for pimento peppers I just doubled the red peppers. It’s amazing. I can’t imagine how yummy it will be with the pimento peppers next year. Awesome recipe!!!
jo says
You’re right Marie, right after the eggplant and the peppers. You will love it with pimento peppers! 🙂
Ivana says
In Serbia, we call this spread ajvar. It is usually made with eggplant and peppers, but in the south, where the peppers are plentiful. they make it only with peppers. This is one of my favourite spreads, and I can eat it all day long. It is beautiful with some roasted potatoes, cheese and bacon. Yum! I made it with my grandma a few years ago, and I must say that it is a lot of work. We made around 30 jars, and used more than 100 kg of peppers and around 20 kg of eggplant. After 12 hours of peeling the peppers, I was exhausted. In Serbia, we don’t use onions or tomato sauce.
jo says
LOL, 100 kg of peppers? Oh my! I know I was exhausted after making 12 jars. I’ve never tried it with peppers only but I can only imagine I’d love it, because I’m not really an eggplant fan. 🙂
Doina says
Am fost uimita sa gasesc o reteta de zacusca pe un site strain, apoi am citit ca esti nascuta in Romania. Ma bucur ca faci cunoscute retete traditionale romanesti, iar aceasta reteta chiar ti-a iesit minunat. Felicitari.
jo says
Multumesc foarte mult Doina. 🙂
Irene says
Hi Jo, can I do the last step on a water bath? Thanks
jo says
Absolutely! I’m so glad you’re trying this recipe, you’ll love it. 🙂