Ajvar

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Ajvar is a Croatian Red Pepper paste which can be used as a sauce to accompany grilled meats or fish, or mixed with rice or pasta, as a dip or simply as a spread on bread. In Germany, it is widely available in supermarkets, but as it's very difficult to obtain here in the UK, I decided to make my own. There seem to be as many recipes for Ajvar out there as there are people posting them, so it really is very much down to personal preference- I decided to start off with the very basic ingredients and experiment a little with their amount and proportions.

I have thus come up with two kinds so far- the first is a very mild version which I served as a mild dip to go with cevapcici. The second one has a higher proportion of red peppers, chillies and garlic, and less aubergine, which gives it a less watered down consistency and is more of a paste than a sauce.


While the red peppers have to be roasted in order to be able to peel them, the aubergines can either be roasted with the peppers, as in recipe #1, or peeled when raw and then roasted separately as in recipe #2.

Recipe #1 (mild sauce, yields one jar):

Ingredients:

3 Red Bell Peppers
2 tbs Olive Oil
2 medium Aubergines
1 Red Chilli
2 cloves Garlic
1 Red Onion
6 tbs Olive Oil
3 tbs Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper
3 tbs Hungarian Sweet Paprika
Olive Oil to top up

Preheat oven to 200°C. Put washed Red Peppers, Aubergines and Chilli onto a baking sheet which has been drizzled with the 2 tbs of Olive Oil.

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Put on the highest possible rack in the oven and bake until the peppers' skins start blistering. Turn and repeat on each side until skins are blistered and blackened all over.

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Remove from oven and put in a bowl, and cover bowl tightly with cling film. Let rest for at least 10 minutes, or until peppers are cool enough to touch.

In the meantime, finely dice Onion and Garlic.

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When the peppers are cool enough to touch, core them and peel (the skin should now be easy to remove) and cut into chunks. Peel the aubergines and cut up. Carefully peel the chilli and remove seeds (if you prefer a spicier sauce, leave some seeds in). Put into a bowl with the Onion and Garlic and add the 6tbs of olive oil and the lemon juice. Either blend in a food processor or use an immersion blender until the sauce is at preferred consistency. Season with Paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Fill sauce into a jar and top up with Olive Oil. This should keep for a week in the fridge, possibly longer if topped up with more oil after each use.

Recipe #2 (moderate paste, yields one to two jars):

Ingredients:

5 Red Bell Peppers
2 tbs Olive Oil
2 small Aubergines
3 red chillies
3 cloves Garlic
6 tbs Olive Oil
5 tbs Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper
5 tbs Sweet Hungarian Paprika
Olive Oil for topping up

Preheat oven to 200°C. Put washed Red Peppers and Chillies onto a baking sheet which has been drizzled with the 2 tbs of Olive Oil. Put on the highest possible rack in the oven and bake until the peppers' skins start blistering. Turn and repeat on each side until skins are blistered and blackened all over.

Peel Aubergines and dice, then sprinkle with salt and let rest while the peppers are baking. When the peppers are done, remove from oven and put in a bowl, and cover bowl tightly with cling film. Let rest for at least 10 minutes, or until peppers are cool enough to touch.

In the meantime, rinse the aubergine cubes and pat dry with kitchen paper. Put onto the baking sheet used for the peppers and turn in the oil the peppers and chillies were baked in, which should now have nicely infused with some of the heat from the chillies. Put aubergines in the oven, and finely dice Onion and Garlic.

When the peppers are cool enough to touch, core them and peel (the skin should now be easy to remove) and cut into chunks. Carefully peel the chillies and remove seeds (if you prefer a spicier sauce, leave some seeds in). Put into a bowl with the Onion and Garlic and add the 6tbs of olive oil and the lemon juice. Remove Aubergines from the oven and add to the bowl as well. Either blend in a food processor or use an immersion blender until the sauce is at preferred consistency. Season with Paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Fill sauce into a jar and top up with Olive Oil. This should keep for a week in the fridge, possibly longer if topped up with more oil after each use.

Of course both of these can be adjusted to taste- some people like to add tomatoes or even carrots, and quantities can also be randomly experimented with. My favourite of the two above is Recipe #2 on a slice of toasted bread, but #1 served with Cevapcici is pretty nice too.

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