Ajvar (Roast capsicum relish)

This pop of capsicum and eggplant is a relish-must in my house. Great with cevapi, or any barbecue meat, on top of vegetables or scooped up with bread, or for those times you don't have pasta sauce and want to swirl something through. Ajvar is the answer.

Processed With Darkroom Credit: Tammi Kwok

• makes

  6

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  1:10 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 kg red bell peppers
• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 large Roma tomatoes
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¼ cup vegetable or olive oil
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp Vegeta

Instructions

1. Lightly oil the peppers and tomatoes, and roast them either on a grill (preferred) or in a preheated oven at 220°C for about 15-20 minutes, perhaps less for the tomatoes depending on the size.

2. Leave them cool to one side, and once ready peel the skin, remove seeds, cores and stalks from the peppers and the green tops of the tomatoes.

3. Make a few slits to the sides of the eggplant and either place in the same oven at 180 degrees again, or on a grill, skin on, on low-medium heat for about 30 minutes. The eggplant should be soft, and whilst cooking should you need to cover it with foil please do so to avoid the skin burning. Allow it to cool and then slice up the eggplant lengthwise and scoop out the flesh, you can discard the skin.

4. Place the peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant into a food processor and blitz for 10 seconds. Add the garlic, vinegar, salt, and pepper and blitz again for another 10 seconds, then add in your oil and blitz until all ingredients are well combined.

5. Transfer all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat and then reduce heat and simmer for another 20 minutes. Here is a good point to taste and to add further salt and pepper should you like to, as well as the chicken salt or Vegeta. If you have the patience and time, keep simmering and stirring over very low heat for the next 60-120 minutes and if not, remove from the heat and let it cool. The longer you simmer, the more the natural juices and flavours will infuse.

6. Store in a sterilised jar or container, coating the jar sides with a little olive oil. This should keep for about 10-14 days, as that is about as long as it has lasted in my fridge, but you can test it out and should last another few days or so.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.