Armenian Lecho Recipe
Promised my YouTube viewers to share this Armenian tomato sauce Lecho. I basically use this in most of my tutorials, especially when I share something from my traditional Armenian cuisine. Most of the soups and comfort dishes have this lecho as a base, yet every dish has a unique taste and texture. In fact lecho is so tasty on its own, you’ll love to eat it just as is. Dip a piece of fresh bread in still hot lecho, taste it and see if there’s anything yummier. I used to do that every time my mom made it, her lecho was the best and she’d make it so spicy, hearty and so good, I’d never get enough of it. The next and most delicious use for lecho is the famous Armenian comfort dish “tomato omelette”. In wintertime, you’d never be able to find good ripe, field tomatoes, as we have “four seasons” climate, but , I doubt you’ll find a single Armenian family, who didn’t have jars of lecho in their pantry and use it to substitute the summery taste of delicious tomato omelette or any other dish or soup that required tomato in the recipe.
Only three ingredients, plus salt, will be needed to make this quite basic tomato sauce. Hope you guys give it a try and would love to hear your feedback when you do. Feel free to comment on my Facebook or instagram pages, I always look forward to your posts.
Happy cooking!
Ingredients
6-7 lbs fresh ripe tomatoes, I’d suggest to leave the tomatoes at room temperature 1-2 days to ripen and get natural sweetness, your lecho will taste much better
2 lbs fresh green bell or chili peppers, I use chili for spicier taste
Half bunch of fresh parsley
2 tsp granulated white sugar
Salt to taste
Also you will need a large pot of boiling water
A bowl with ice cold water, and a heavy bottom pot for cooking the lecho sauce
Directions
Wash the tomatoes and remove the stems
Make a crisscross cut on the bottom and place in boiling water for 1-2 minutes
Remove from hot water and immediately place in ice cold water, this will help to peel the tomatoes much easier
Peel the tomatoes and cut into small cubes
Place in the pot and start cooking over medium to high heat, about 25-30 minutes, stir occasionally to prevent the sticking
While that’s cooking, go ahead and slice the peppers into thin strips, then chop to make them even smaller, for chunkier lecho go with bigger slices, both for tomatoes and peppers
Then chop the parsley, very finely
Check the texture and thickness of the tomatoes, if it’s no longer too loose and watery, it’s time to add the peppers
Add the chopped peppers, sugar, lower the heat to medium-low
At this point the sauce is going to be a bit splashy, so stir carefully
Cook and stir for another 10-15 minutes or until the peppers turn pale
Add the salt, parsley, cook another 7-10 minutes
You can can lecho in sterilized jars and save in cool,dark place for long month
For caning instructions check my YouTube tutorial for figs preserves
Happy cooking!
