Main Page
Homemade preparations
Tomato and onion lecho, pepper and carrots for winter

Tomato Lecho with Onion, Pepper, and Carrot for Winter

Sweet-and-sour, mild, and seriously tasty! There are countless ways to make lecho, and like a lot of home cooks I've tried plenty of them — but this is the version my family loves best for its sweet, juicy flavor. It's simple to make, needs no separate sterilizing step, and keeps beautifully.

BLUE-EYED

Recipe author

Tomato and onion lecho, pepper and carrots for winter

Watch the video

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Tomatoes

Carrots

Onion

Bell pepper

Water (I use a standard 1-cup measure throughout, filled to about 200 ml.)

Vegetable oil

1.5

Sugar

1.5

Salt (Or less — taste as you go, since salt varies.)

Vinegar essence (70%)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 7 % 1 g

Fats 29 % 4 g

Carbohydrates 64 % 9 g

75 kcal

GI: 56 / 0 / 44

Cooking method

Step 1:

Use only fresh, in-season vegetables for lecho — nothing overripe. Choose peppers that are thick-walled and juicy.
Step 2:

Prepare the jars: wash them with baking soda and rinse well under running water. While still wet, set them neck-down in a cold oven along with the lids. Heat to 300°F (150°C); once it reaches temperature, sterilize pint (0.5 L) jars for 10 minutes and quart (1 L) jars for 15 minutes. This is my go-to method — I've used it for years and it's never let me down.
Step 3:

Cut all the vegetables into strips — don't go too fine, about 1/4 inch (0.6–0.7 cm) is ideal. You can shred the carrots on a julienne (Korean-style) grater. Cut the tomatoes into wedges or large squares; I leave the skins on.
Step 4:

Make the marinade: in a large cooking pot, combine the water, sugar, salt (again — salt varies, so start with a little less and adjust to taste once the vegetables go in), and vegetable oil; add the vinegar essence last. Stirring, let it boil for 4–5 minutes.
Step 5:

Now add the vegetables one type at a time, returning to a boil after each. Start with the onion.
Step 6:

Then the carrots.
Step 7:

Next, add the bell pepper.
Step 8:

Add the tomatoes last.
Step 9:

Once it comes back to a boil, cook for 20–30 minutes over high heat.
Step 10:

Ladle the hot lecho into warm, sterile jars. I keep the pot on the stove while filling, turning the heat back on now and then so it stays piping hot. Fill each jar almost to the shoulder, then run a clean spoon gently along the inside wall to pack it down and release trapped air; top it off nearly to overflowing. It helps to have someone on hand to tighten the lids so you can work fast.
Step 11:

Wipe the filled jars clean, turn them upside down onto their lids, wrap them in a blanket, and let them cool. Then move them straight to a dark, cool spot. This lecho keeps for over a year — but it's always the first thing eaten.

This is an old recipe from the days of measuring with a glass and spoons, and I still make it that way — though I've switched the salt to grams. The vegetable weights are for unprepped produce; I've also tried weighing them already chopped, and there's still plenty of marinade — you just end up with about 3 extra jars. Normally I get five 24-oz (0.72 kg) jars; from pre-chopped veg I got eight 24-oz jars plus one pint (0.5 L). When I use a little less vegetable, the leftover marinade is delicious — I pour it over a couple of jars of cherry tomatoes, and the kids eat those right up since they come out sweet.