Bell Peppers in Mustard Sauce
Fasting Recipes Budget Recipes Vegetables Pickles and Canned Romanian Sauces and Salsa
A winter preserve I first tried (just the sauce) a few years ago when I received a jar from my neighbor and friend Adriana. She gave me the recipe then, but at the time I didn't eat peppers and didn't have the heart to can them for winter. Then I lost the recipe, but every autumn I remembered the taste of that sauce. I even tried to make something similar last year, but it didn't turn out as good. So this year I went straight to the source: to Adriana's house to make a batch of peppers in mustard sauce together. It goes wonderfully with grilled or roasted pork. Perfect to open a jar at Christmas and say "thank you, Adriana!"
Ingredients
2.5 kg bell peppers (Romanian gogosari or kapia type)
250 g mustard
250 ml vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
250 ml oil
250 g sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional; for color)
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
pickling salt (about 2 tablespoons)
Yield: 4 jars of 800 ml each
How to prepare bell peppers in mustard sauce
- Clean the peppers and remove the stems. Cut into slices.
- In a larger pot, bring to a boil the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard, turmeric, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Boil for 5 minutes until you see it's homogeneous and has thickened slightly.
- Add the peppers and salt and mix well. It will seem like there's too little sauce for the peppers, but that's fine. Cover the pot and let it simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the lid and let it boil for another 5-10 minutes until the peppers cook down so the sauce almost covers them (see photo 2).
- Adjust salt to taste and let it boil for 1 more minute.
- Transfer the peppers with sauce into sterilized jars. Screw the lids on tightly. Turn the jars upside down (resting on their lids) and leave for 10 minutes to create a vacuum seal. Place the still-hot jars under a blanket and let them cool overnight (dry steaming method).
- Store in a cool place.
The mustard sauce
Peppers reduced after cooking
Jarred preserves
