Pop's Fabulous Ajvar

Ajvar (pronounced aye-vahr) is a Serbian side dish that is a gift from the gods. Highly nutritious, loved by young and old alike, it is delectable spread on thickly sliced rye bread with butter, on hot dogs, steaks, or on pita bread with hummus, avocado, tomato, provolone, and sprouts. A large brown cloud will envelope your head for several days.

• Preparation Time: 40 mins
• Cooking Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
• Calories: 201 Calories

Ingredients

• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• ¾ cup corn oil
• cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar, or to taste
• 2 ½ pounds firm, shiny eggplants
• 3 large green bell peppers, or more to taste
• 3 large red bell peppers, or more to taste
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Step 2

Poke holes in eggplants with a fork. Arrange eggplants, green bell peppers, and red bell peppers on a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.

Step 3

Bake in the preheated oven, turning peppers with tongs every 15 minutes, until tender, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove; cover immediately with a damp towel. Let steam as they cool, about 20 minutes.

Step 4

Scoop eggplant flesh and juice into a food processor. Add garlic; puree until smooth. Scrape into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 5

Hold a bell pepper over the bowl of the food processor; discard stem and seeds and allow juices to stream into the bowl. Peel skin away slowly and discard. Drop bell pepper into the food processor. Repeat with remaining bell peppers. Pulse until finely chopped.

Step 6

Scrape the chopped peppers into the bowl with the eggplant puree. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in vinegar. Stir in oil. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until flavors are well blended, 8 hours to overnight.