Besides being a popular spread, ajvar is also served as a salad or as an accompaniment to a meal. It has a beautiful taste and smell!!
Traditionally, ajvar is made during autumn when peppers were abundant. The preparation of ajvar was something most everyone in the family participated in. Entire communities and villages would make and preserve ajvar during the same time of year, and this event was something that would ensure that families would have vegetables during the colder months of the year. Just open up a jar in the winter and enjoy the fruits of your labor. 
Making and preserving ajvar is time-consuming and laborious, but when everyone in the family pitches in and helps, it makes the production of ajvar much easier. Kemal said he and his brother spent much time stirring the ajvar which they both always loved and looked forward to. This was common in families because it takes at least two hours of constant stirring of the ajvar. When everyone in the family takes a turn and shares in the labor, it’s easier to make.
Now Kemal and I don’t have children, so when he and I made ajvar last night, it was pretty labor-intensive even though we took turns stirring.
Making ajvar is also time-consuming. I think it took about six hours from start to finish so if you’re going to make ajvar, make sure you have plenty of time set aside. In addition, please make sure you read all the instructions before you begin. You’ll need some Mason jars for preserving the ajvar, as well as a blender and a large pot. Make sure that you’re clothing which is appropriate. The ajvar bubbles up and can splatter your clothes, possibly staining them. So don’t wear anything you’re worried about potentially getting stained.
The only other suggestion I have for you before you begin is to read about how to safety preserve food. I’ve provided a link for you under the Disclaimer section. Kemal and I wanted to make ajvar the old-fashioned way…how his mother and others in his country traditionally preserve ajvar. You don’t have to do it this way. Educate yourself about preservation methods and then decide for yourself how you will preserve your ajvar.
Have fun while you’re cooking and enjoy this very healthy and delicious spread on homemade bread. I made
lepinje (Bosnian pita bread) to go with our ajvar, and when you spread the ajvar on the bread and then top it with feta cheese (and possibly some prosciutto)…well…you couldn’t ask for a more perfect meal!
Ajvar – (Roasted Peppers and Eggplant Spread) – How to Make and Preserve It
(Adapted from: Kemal’s mother’s recipe)
Yield: Approximately 8 half-pint jars
Ingredients:
- 2 large eggplants
- 5 large red bell peppers
- 2 large yellow bell peppers
- 2 large green bell peppers
- 2 red chili peppers
- 2 serrano chili peppers
- 8 cloves garlic
- 2 small onions
- 2 1/2 cups olive oil + 1/3 cup oil, + 4 tbsp. olive oil (Set aside 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 2 cups, and 4 tbsp. in separate bowls.)
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tbsp. paprika
- 1 tbsp. vinegar
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Note: The traditional ajvar recipe would be made with only 1 eggplant and all red peppers. Most ajvar recipes are also mild so the traditional recipe wouldn’t be made with the serrano and red chili peppers. We like our ajvar with just a little heat though.
Step One: Roasting the Eggplant and Bell Peppers
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Wash and dry the bell peppers and eggplant.
- Place the whole eggplants and bell peppers in a large baking ban and bake uncovered until the skins of the peppers become burned. When the skins start burning, it makes it easier to peel the skins off (which you’ll do later).
- Remove from the oven and let the eggplants cool for about 5 minutes or so.
- Place the peppers in a plastic bags while they’re still hot and just out of the oven. Seal the plastic bags and set them on the counter for about 15 minutes. (This will make it easier to peel the skins off.
Step Two: Preparing the Rest of the Vegetables and the Ball Mason Glass Jars
- While the eggplants are cooling and the peppers are inside the plastic bags, peel and then finely dice the onion and garlic.
- Then wash and finely dice the chili peppers and serrano peppers.
- Fry the onions, garlic, and serrano and chili peppers in about 4 tbsp. of olive oil until they become soft.
- Set that mixture aside for now.
- Then wash the glass jars and lids (we used half pint Ball Mason jars) that you’re going to be using for preserving the ajvar.
- After washing the jars and lids, let them dry upside down on a paper towel.
Step Three: Peeling and Chopping the Bell Peppers and Eggplants
- Peel the skin off all the bell peppers and eggplants.
- Cut the eggplant into large chunks.
- Remove the stems off the peppers.
- Then cut the peppers in half, removing the core and most of the seeds. Don’t worry about removing every little seed; just remove the majority of them.
- Cut each peppers into several chunks.
- Then fill up your blender about three-fourths of the way full with eggplant/peppers and about 1/2 cup of the 2 cups of olive oil, chopping the vegetables in the blender until you reached the desired chunkiness.
- Now, fill up the blender again about three-fourths of the way full with more eggplant/peppers and olive oil, repeating this process until all the eggplant and peppers have been chopped in the blender.
Step Four: Cooking the Ajvar
- Fill a large pot with all the chopped eggplant and peppers, as well as the fried vegetable mix that you have setting aside.
- If you have any of the 2 cups of olive oil leftover that you didn’t use when blending the peppers and eggplant, add it to the pot.
- Stir in the seasonings and vinegar.
- Cook on medium-low heat for hours, stirring constantly until most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture cooks down, thickens, and reduces in volume.
Note: Initially our pot contained about 4 1/2 to 5 quarts of the vegetable mixture, and when it was done, it had cooked down to about 2 quarts. You can see in the picture below how full the pot was when we started if you look at the sides of the pot. Over 50% of the liquid evaporated when we finally finished.
Note: You’ll know you have the right consistency when you take your spoon, move it across the pot, and you can see the bottom of the pot. It took exactly 2 hours before this happened for us.
- Once you’re able to see the bottom of the pot as you stir with your spoon, cook the mixture for about 10 more minutes, stirring constantly.
- When the ajvar is done cooking, stir in 1/4 cup olive oil, remove the pot from the heat, and then place a lid on the pot. Here’s a couple of pictures of the ajvar after we finished cooking it and added the olive oil:
Step Five: Preserving the Ajvar
Important Note and Disclaimer: The instructions that we give for preserving ajvar is a very old method that Kemal’s mother and many people in ex-Yugoslavia have used when preserving food. This method of preserving ajvar is different from methods used in the U.S. It may not be the safest way to preserve food, but this is how we did it.
To ensure that you preserve your ajvar safely and properly, as well as to ensure high quality canned food, please read the information on the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website.
That website is an excellent resource and you may prefer and feel more comfortable following their precise instructions for preserving ajvar instead of using the old ways of doing it. We cannot attest to the safety of this old method except to say that this is how Kemal’s mother (and others in his country) preserved ajvar, and we chose to preserve it the same way she did. If you are concerned or have doubts that this old-fashioned preservation method might not result in a safe, high quality preserved food, then please read the information on the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s website, and then follow their instructions for preserving your ajvar.
Also, be very careful when you’re dealing with the hot jars and lids. Make sure you don’t touch any hot surfaces with your hands. Use oven mitts when touching hot jars and tongs when touching hot lids.
Here’s how we preserved our ajvar:
- Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.
- After the oven is preheated, place the empty jars you will be using for preserving the ajvar onto a baking pan, and then place the baking pan containing the empty jars into the oven.
- Bake the empty jars for about 30 minutes. This is the old-time way of sterilizing them.
- After 30 minutes, remove the jars from the oven.
- Increase the temperature of the oven to 300 degrees.
- Then fill the jars nearly to the top with the hot ajvar. Here’s a picture so you can see how high we filled our jars.
- Make sure you clean the rim of the jars before you put them in the oven. Just take a paper towel and wipe around the edges. If you don’t, you might have problems with the lids sealing properly.
- Place the filled glass jars which are inside the baking pan into the oven. Make sure the jars are uncovered.
- Bake at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes. A little crust will form on top of the ajvar. That’s fine.
- After you place the ajvar in the oven, boil the lids to the glass jars in a pot of water. This is a step my Mom suggested. She said it will help the lids fit better on the jars.
- After the ajvar has baked for 15 minutes, carefully remove the hot lids from the boiling water with a pair of tongs, placing them on a paper towel to try.
- Next, take the 1/3 cup of olive oil that you set aside earlier and heat it up on medium in a small pan or pot until the oil gets hot.
- After the ajvar has baked for 20 minutes, remove it from the oven, making sure to turn the oven off.
- Flatten the ajvar with a spoon so it’s smooth on the top.
- Take a spoon and pour hot oil over the top of the ajvar…enough to cover it. You may have some oil leftover. That’s fine; you can use it for something else.
- Then immediately place the lids (make sure they’re cool before touching them) on the jars and tighten them up good. Be sure you wear an oven mitt so you don’t burn yourself when you’re holding the jars and screwing on the lids.
- Place the covered jars in the still-warm oven. Don’t turn the oven on though. Leave them there until the oven cools. (This step will make the lids seal better.)
- After the oven has cooled, remove the jars and let them cool at room temperature.
- Store the ajvar in a cool and dark place. (The jars don’t need to be refrigerated until they’re opened up. Once you’ve opened the ajvar, they need to go into the refrigerator.)
Note: If the seal is good, the lids will have popped inward some. In other words, they will have sunken in a little.
