Before and After

For my red pepper eggplant spread. Ajvar. Serbian, Hungarian, Balkan, whatever. All over Eastern Europe, this spread (with all its various versions) celebrates the pepper harvest.

This is the “Before” picture. Before blending, that is. Two eggplants and two large red peppers. Sweat the eggplant first to pull out moisture. I slice it and drizzle it with salt. Then roast, in a very hot oven or in a gas grill. I used the grill today.

The peppers went into a paper bag to steam after roasting, and then were easily peeled.

All into the food processor with five or six cloves of roasted garlic, half a cup of olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

The “After” picture. Garlicky, rich, yet smoky and sweet, all at the same time. A celebration of summer harvest.

Try it sometime. It is addictive.

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