Zacusca cu vinete si ciuperci / Zacusca (vegetables stew) with eggplants and mushrooms
Acum cateva saptamani am vazut pe blogul Mayei o reteta interesanta de zacusca. Trebuia neaparat sa o incerc. Am modificat putin reteta astfel incat sa respecte doua reguli: sa nu contina mult ulei si sa nu fie foarte sarata. OK, am mai facut niste modificari insa nu semnificative.
Iata ce am folosit:
– 200 ml ulei
– 500 g ceapa (rosie sau galbena)
– 1 kg ardei kapia
– 2 kg gogosari
– 1.5 kg rosii
– 1 kg vinete (coapte si curatate)
– 1 kg ciuperci
– piper
– foi de dafin
– cimbru uscat
– 2 catei de usturoi
– 2 linguri de sare
In afara vinetelor toate legumele se cantaresc crude si curatate.
A few weeks ago I saw an interesting recipe of vegetable stew (zacusca) on Maya’s blog . I had to try it. I modified the recipe slightly to meet the two most important rules: not to contain much oil and not to be too salty.OK, I’ve made some other changes but not significant.
A few weeks ago I saw an interesting recipe of vegetable stew (zacusca) on Maya’s blog . I had to try it. I modified the recipe slightly to meet the two most important rules: not to contain much oil and not to be too salty.OK, I’ve made some other changes but not significant.
Here’s what I used:
200 ml oil
500 g onions (red or yellow)
1 kg Kapia sweet pepper
2 kg peppers
1.5 kg tomatoes
1 kg eggplant (baked and peeled)
1 kg mushrooms
pepper
bay leaves
dried savory
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of salt
Besides eggplants, all vegetables will be weighted raw and peeled.
Intre timp am copt ardeii kapia si 1 kg de gogosari. Vinetele le aveam coapte deja; aici am trisat un pic 🙂
500 g onions (red or yellow)
1 kg Kapia sweet pepper
2 kg peppers
1.5 kg tomatoes
1 kg eggplant (baked and peeled)
1 kg mushrooms
pepper
bay leaves
dried savory
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of salt
Besides eggplants, all vegetables will be weighted raw and peeled.


Spalam si curatam toate legumele. Unele din ele vor fi tocate cu robotul de bucatarie iar altele vor fi coapte. Vom incepe cu ceapa, apoi 1 kg de gogosari si rosiile – acestea se toaca pe rand cu robotul de bucatarie.
Wash and clean all the vegetables. Some of them will be minced in food processor and others will be cooked on grill. We will start with the onion, then 1 kg of peppers and tomatoes – chop them in the food processor.


Dupa ce am tocat ceapa, aceasta se pune in vasul in care facem zacusca impreuna cu uleiul. Se caleste pana cand devine translucida; la mine nu a durat decat 10 minute pentru ca imi place sa fie decat inabusita.
Apoi am adaugat pe rand gogosarii si rosiile tocate. Se amesteca bine si se lasa sa fiarba la foc mic.
A After chopping onions, it will be put int the dish in which we will cook the stew together with the oil and is placed on the stove. Fry until it becomes translucent; it took only 10 minutes because I like to be just a little bit tempered.
Then I added the chopped tomatoes and after that the peppers. Mix well and let them boil at low heat.

Meanwhile I cooked the sweet peppers and 1 kg of peppers. I had already baked the eggplant, I cheated a bit here 🙂



Am curatat toate legumele coapte de pielite si le-am tocat cu robotul de bucatarie. Acum ca toate legumele erau pregatite pentru a fi puse in vas, a mai ramas sa curat ciupercile.
I cleaned all vegetables of their baked peels and I chopped them with the food processor. Now all the vegetables were ready to be put into the recipient, it only left to clean and peel the mushrooms.


Am folosit atat palarioarele cat si piciorusele ciupercilor. Eu le-am tocat cu robotul pentru prima portie; pentru a doua am preferat sa le tai in bucatele mai mari. Depinde numai de cum va place.
Am pus legumele coapte si ciupercile in vasul in care preparam zacusca si le-am lasat sa fiarba impreuna cu celelalte ingrediente.
I used the whole mushroom. I’ve chopped them with the food processor for the first portion, but for the second I cut them into medium pieces . Depends only on how you like them to be.
I put the cooked vegetables and mushrooms in the dish in which I prepared the vegetable stew and let them simmer together with the other ingredients.

Cu o jumatate de ora inainte de a lua vasul de pe foc se adauga foile de dafin, piperul, cimbrul, sarea si cateii de usturoi pisati.
A durat cam 1.5 – 2 ore pana cand zacusca a scazut suficient.
With half an hour before taking the vessel out of the stove add the bay leaves, pepper, dried thyme, salt and ground cloves.
It took about 1.5 – 2 hours until the vegetable stew was low enough.
Vasul se ia de pe foc. Zacusca se pune in borcane curate si uscate. Odata umplute si infiletate, borcanele se vor pune intr-un vas mare cu apa pe fundul caruia am pus hartie. Acesta se baga in cuptorul preincalzit. Se lasa la sterilizat timp de o ora, incepand cu momentul in care apa a inceput sa fiarba. Apoi lasati-le sa se raceasca treptat pana a doua zi, de preferat in cuptor.
The recipient will be taken aside. Zacusca will be put in clean and dried jars.Then they will be wrapped in paper and placed in a large pot. The pot will be put in the preheated oven. The jars with sauce will be sterilized for 1 hour, measured after the water began to boil.
Then leave them to cool gradually until the next day, preferably in the oven.




Daca veti folosi ciuperci de padure sau un alt tip decat Champignon, zacusca va fi cu mult mai aromata. Dar cum nu am gasit altceva, eu am sa ma multumesc si cu zacusca pe care am facut-o anul acesta.
If you use forest mushrooms or other types than Champignon, zacusca will be more aromatic. But as I didn’t found something else, I think I’ll have to remain with the zacusca cooked this year.
Bon appétit!