Pickling & Roasting Peppers: Sweet-and-Sour, in Oil, or as Ajvar

Preserving Peppers – Three Methods

Peppers only have a short high season from August to October. With the right preservation methods, you can bring their full flavor into your pantry.

Method 1: Sweet-and-Sour Pickled Peppers

Classic pepper strips in a jar – great with cheese, cold cuts, and platters.

Ingredients (makes about 6 jars of 350 ml):

• 2 kg peppers (mixed: red, yellow, orange)
• 400 ml white wine vinegar
• 400 ml water
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• Spices: peppercorns, bay leaf, garlic, a chili pepper

Steps:

1. Wash the peppers, remove the seeds, cut into strips or rings.
2. Bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a boil.
3. Put the spices into sterilized jars, pack the peppers in tightly.
4. Pour the boiling brine to 1 cm below the rim, seal immediately.
5. Process 15 min. at 90 °C in a water bath. Shelf life: 1–2 years. Once opened, 2–3 weeks in the fridge.

Method 2: Grilled Peppers in Olive Oil

A Mediterranean delicacy – intense smoky flavor, tender and soft.

1. Roast the peppers whole on a grill rack or directly over a gas flame until the skin is black and blistered.
2. Steam in a covered bowl for 15 min. – the skin will then peel off easily.
3. Peel, deseed, tear into strips.
4. Layer into jars with garlic, thyme, and salt, cover with olive oil.
5. Seal the jars and put them straight into the fridge.

Shelf life: 2–3 weeks in the fridge – the same once opened.

Important: Do not can them and do not store them in the pantry. Peppers are low-acid and oil excludes oxygen – precisely the conditions in which Clostridium botulinum thrives. 80 °C does not kill the spores, and neither does 100 °C in a water bath. The BfR advises against storing vegetables and garlic in oil at room temperature. If you want the peppers to keep longer, acidify them properly first (as in Method 1) or freeze them in portions. Background: "Safe Canning: Avoiding Botulism".

Method 3: Ajvar – the Balkan Pepper Spread

Ajvar is a spicy pepper-and-eggplant paste that works as a bread spread, a dip, and a seasoning paste all in one.

Ingredients:

• 2 kg red peppers
• 500 g eggplants
• 4 garlic cloves
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, pepper, chili to taste
• About 100 ml wine vinegar for acidifying

1. Roast the peppers and eggplants in the oven at 220 °C until soft and blackened.
2. Peel, remove the seeds, roughly chop.
3. Simmer with the garlic in oil for 20–30 min. until the water has evaporated – stir along the way!
4. Purée coarsely or finely with an immersion blender, adjust seasoning.
5. Stir in the wine vinegar (about 100 ml for this quantity), fill boiling hot into jars and process in a water bath.

Shelf life: about 1 year when acidified this way. Without vinegar, ajvar stays low-acid – peppers and eggplant both are – and plain water-bath processing does not make low-acid vegetables safely shelf-stable. In that case: a pressure canner, the fridge (a few weeks) or the freezer. Why that is so is explained in "Safe Canning: Avoiding Botulism". Unforgettable with fresh bread.