Tomato, Pepper, and Apple Adjika for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   To make apple-and-pepper adjika, gather fresh hot pepper, apples, garlic, sunflower oil, salt, and sugar.

2. Step 2:

   

   Tart apples, or ones with a pronounced sour taste, are best, but it's not crucial, since we add sugar anyway—sweeter apples just need less. Peel and core the apples and cut them into rough pieces.

3. Step 3:

   

   Cut a shallow X in the bottom of each tomato, scald them in boiling water for a moment, and slip off the thick skins—it's quick and easy; after that "bath," the skin comes right off. Cut the peeled tomatoes into pieces.

4. Step 4:

   

   Put the apples and tomatoes in a saucepan and simmer until soft, about 10 minutes.

5. Step 5:

   

   For the seasoning, get the salt and peeled garlic cloves ready—young garlic is best, since it's much easier to peel. Seed the hot pepper and cut it into pieces too. Use a well-refined table salt.

6. Step 6:

   

   Coarse salt isn't recommended here—it's less refined, and the crystals can carry extra minerals that end up in the adjika (whereas with brines and marinades those sediments just settle to the bottom). By now the cooked mixture has turned soft and pliable.

7. Step 7:

   

   Purée the hot tomato-apple mixture with an immersion blender.

8. Step 8:

   

   Add the sunflower oil, sugar, garlic, and hot pepper, and adjust the salt to taste. Simmer everything together a little, until the pepper and garlic soften, then blend again until smooth. Bring it back to a boil and ladle the adjika into sterile storage jars; seal with sterile lids and set them under a blanket until completely cool. You can also serve it right away.