A Greek winter appetizer made from eggplant will delight lovers of spicy pickled vegetables. In order for guests and family to enjoy these vegetables, you need to learn how to cook them correctly. A canned snack will fit perfectly into the cold season on the dinner table. It can also be served for a holiday, as a separate original salad. On various sites on the Internet you can watch video recipes about what rules exist for preparing this salad.
Greek eggplant for the winter is a truly royal recipe. Photos and videos can be viewed on the website. At first glance, it is very complex, but in fact it contains very simple products, and it is easy to prepare.
For one small jar you need to take two medium eggplants. Wash them, cut off stains, holes and imperfections on the skin. Vegetables must be fresh.
In addition to eggplant add:
You can take any greens you like. You can do without it completely. But it adds flavor and spice. Salt, sugar and seasoning are added to taste. To keep the snack well, you need to add a little regular table vinegar.
An eggplant appetizer should be prepared in one go. It is important not to confuse anything and follow the recipe in the photo and video.
The highest quality vegetables are selected, free from rot and disease. They are washed and dried. Carrots and onions must first be peeled. Divide the garlic into cloves.
Eggplants are cut into circles or strips, as you like. Carrots, onions and garlic are cut into small cubes. Peppers with diced tomatoes.
Take out a frying pan or saucepan and start cooking. Lay out the vegetables. Add oil, vinegar, sugar and salt. Simmer for a few minutes after boiling.
Tomatoes are added at the end, along with seasonings and herbs. This appetizer is considered spicy, so you don’t have to skimp on the garlic and hot pepper. Simmer for about ten minutes with the lid tightly closed. Then, put the salad on low heat and cook for another ten minutes. The mixture should not gurgle, just simmer quietly.
Lids and jars should be prepared in advance. They are sterilized, washed in hot water, and scalded with hot steam. Then dry and allow to drain.
The warm snack is placed in jars. If there is anything left, you can eat it the same day. The rest is rolled up, screwed, and turned upside down until it cools completely. It is better to store the snack in the cellar or in the refrigerator. You can eat it after a couple of months, but many people open it to enjoy it even earlier.
Cooking real Greek eggplants for the winter is an art. The video recipe shows that all the vegetables are chopped quite coarsely. This is a little unconventional for Russian snacks. It is no coincidence that this one was called Greek.
After all, it is in Greece that all vegetables are loved and appreciated, like in no other country. Moreover, in salads, each vegetable is highlighted there, without hiding it or disguising it. So it is here: the larger the vegetables in the appetizer, the better and tastier. It’s better not to chop even the garlic, but to cut it into strips or rings. Carrots should come in large cubes.
Another important rule is that the real taste of the product is discovered only after the lids have been screwed on. Therefore, it is better to wait a few months before trying it.
The most important vegetable here is eggplant. There should be more of it than other vegetables. The appetizer is spicy, so you don’t have to skimp on hot peppers, black and red.
It is important to be careful not to overcook the food in the pan. They should crisp slightly when cold. The main feature of the Greek snack is that it is bright, piquant and looks beautiful in a jar or plate. That is why the recipe includes colorful vegetables, as well as herbs.
Eggplant is one of the healthiest and most delicious vegetables common in our country. The composition of eggplants contains a large amount of vitamins, microelements and other useful substances. Their unusual taste is perfect for various original snacks. This vegetable is also ideal for a variety of twists for the winter.
Eggplants contain fiber, pectin, proteins, soluble sugars, vitamins C, PP, B1, B2, B5, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, sodium, magnesium. The presence of nicotinic acid (vitamin PP) makes this vegetable indispensable for those who want to quit smoking, since this acid helps the body adapt to the absence of nicotine.
Those who want to lose weight should also pay attention to eggplants. They contain a lot of fiber and a whole host of useful substances, but 100 g of the product contains only 28 kilocalories.
Today we will learn an interesting recipe for preparing eggplant in Greek - manzana.
To prepare the classic version of eggplant in Greek, we need to take:
1. Wash the eggplants and cut off their stem. We make a cut in the middle of each fruit and boil until tender. Cool in cold water. Place in rows on a baking sheet or board. We press another board on top and place a load on it. Leave for a while to allow excess juice to come out of the vegetables.
2. Prepare the filling while the eggplants are under pressure. Grate the carrots. Simmer in hot oil in a cauldron for 5–10 minutes over high heat. Let cool. Cut the bell pepper into strips. Grind the garlic in a blender or garlic grinder. Chop the parsley. Mix all the filling ingredients and add salt.
3. Stuff the eggplants with the resulting filling. Place the eggplants tightly in a pan, bucket or other container. Cover and place a weight on top. Leave for 3 days. Remove and place in jars, sealing with nylon lids.
Eggplants prepared in this way are perfect as a snack. They can be used as a side dish for meat, as a separate dish, or as part of pickles for the holiday.
Prepare them for the winter so that you can have this tasty and original source of vitamins on hand during the cold months.
This Greek eggplant recipe involves using a different filling, based on white cabbage. To prepare manzans, take:
The quantity of products is given approximately, they can be varied - take a little more carrots or bell peppers, add celery or hot peppers if desired, etc.
Remove the stems (green tails) from the eggplants. Along each vegetable we make a deep longitudinal cut for the filling (pocket).
Place the sliced eggplants into a pan of boiling water. Cook the vegetables until slightly soft. The main thing is not to overcook them! Cook for about 10 minutes (if the water stops boiling after lowering the eggplants, a little longer). Here you need to focus on the size of the eggplants, their variety and quantity.
Place the boiled eggplants on a sheet, place a board and a small weight on top. We place the sheet with a slight slope so that the juices can drain easily. Leave in this position for 2-3 hours until all excess juice has drained.
Shred the cabbage, grate the carrots on a coarse grater, and cut the bell pepper into strips. Finely chop the garlic and herbs (do not crush the garlic!). Mix the filling and season it with vegetable oil (you don’t need a lot of oil). If you wish, you can add a little hot pepper or other ingredients to taste.
Carefully stuff the eggplants with the resulting filling, which by then should have cooled and given off excess moisture. We wrap the vegetables with thread so that the filling does not fall out. Place in an enamel bowl. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Cover with a heavy clay plate of suitable size and pressure (you can use a 3-liter jar of water). Cover with a lid. Can be tied with a clean cloth. We put it in the cold. The manzans will be ready in 15–20 days.
We take out the finished manzanas, remove the threads, and cut them into slices.
Greek stuffed eggplants are an excellent appetizer and a source of vitamins. Bon appetit!
Greek eggplant for the winter is a recipe that came to me completely by accident. It's no secret that the Greeks are great at turning simple products into very tasty dishes without making much effort.
Once we were visiting the Greeks, and on the table, in addition to a huge number of meat dishes, there was an eggplant appetizer. I was surprised, I thought that the Greeks were making preparations for the winter, but everything turned out to be simpler, this dish was “to eat now.” Let me tell you that I really liked Greek eggplants, and I decided to try cooking them for the winter. I’ve been doing this for three years now, and the eggplants last well all winter, even though my pantry is not at all cold.
So, let’s prepare the ingredients and start preparing Greek-style eggplants for the winter.
Eggplants should be small in size so that they fit well in a liter or half-liter jar. In each eggplant, make a longitudinal cut on one side with a knife. We try not to damage the other side of the eggplant.
Pour water into a saucepan, salt it, put it on the fire and let the water boil. Boil the eggplants in salted water for 10 minutes. Place the boiled eggplants in a colander and let the liquid drain; you can squeeze the excess liquid out of the cooled eggplants with your hands.
Three carrots on a Korean carrot grater, if available. My grater is a little smaller.
Pour all the vegetable oil into the frying pan, let it warm up and fry the carrots for 10-12 minutes until they become softer.
Meanwhile, peel the bell pepper from seeds and stems, cut the pepper into thin longitudinal strips. Finely chop the chili pepper, garlic and parsley with a knife.
In a bowl, mix the fried carrots and the remaining chopped vegetables. Add salt and lemon juice. Mix all ingredients well.
Remove the tails from the cooled eggplants and add a little salt to them in the middle.
Stuff each eggplant with vegetable filling and place the eggplants in a mold or pan.
We put pressure on top of the stuffed eggplants. Place the eggplants under pressure in the refrigerator for two days. During this time, the eggplants with vegetables will ferment and release juice, becoming spicy and juicy. The Greeks at this stage already eat eggplants the Greek way. Well, we’ll go further with you, we’re preparing Greek eggplants for the winter!
Place the finished eggplants in Greek style into sterilized jars, compacting them tightly so that no air gaps form. Fill the top of the eggplants with the released juice and tightly close the jars with lids. We send the jars for storage in a cool place.
Open a jar in winter and eat eggplants with pleasure. The eggplant tastes pickled and spicy, and the vegetables in the filling remain crispy.
Bon appetit!
Greek cuisine has given the world many delicious vegetable dishes, including eggplants. In Greece, these vegetables are available all year round, so they are rarely prepared here in large quantities, canned for future use. However, based on the Greek “blue” snacks, our compatriots came up with recipes that allow them to be sealed in jars for long-term storage. Greek eggplants are a whole range of appetizers in the spirit of Greek cuisine, not always similar to each other. If you are a fan of Mediterranean cuisine, you should make several options for such dishes.
Greek eggplant recipes can vary greatly; there are no uniform rules for preparing these dishes for the winter. However, there are still several general principles for preserving “little blue” ones; these nuances do not depend on the chosen recipe.
Technologies for preparing Greek-style eggplant appetizers can vary significantly. Precisely following the instructions accompanying a specific recipe will help you avoid mistakes and get the expected result.
Composition (per 1 l):
Cooking method:
In this simple recipe, eggplants are cooked without sterilization, but stand well at room temperature.
Composition (for 3–3.5 l):
Cooking method:
Despite the fact that the eggplants in this recipe were prepared without vinegar, they do not need to be stored in the refrigerator - any cool room will do, even an unheated pantry.
Composition (per 3 l):
Cooking method:
The appetizer prepared according to this recipe looks very appetizing and has a unique taste, but it can only be stored in the refrigerator and for no more than 4-6 months.
Greek eggplants do not have such a piquant taste as most of the snacks we are used to from these vegetables, but their organoleptic qualities will definitely not disappoint you.
