Zacusca with Mushrooms
The garden is dressed in sweet tones of copper, and the aroma of roasted eggplants, ruby peppers, and fresh mushrooms fills the air, bringing with it memories of autumn. There’s a great commotion in our yard; young and old, we gather around the old cookbook, searching for the perfect recipe for mushroom zacusca. "First, you clean the onion," mom reads with a gentle voice, but immediately laughs: "That’s a job for dad! We’ll handle the peppers!" Grandma comes from the garden with the selected, washed, and finely chopped mushrooms, while grandpa, under his smiling mustache, worries about the eggplants waiting their turn in the oven.
"Who’s going to the pantry?" mom asks, grinding the ingredients, "to bring me the tomato paste, a bit of oil, pepper, and bay leaves?" "I’ll run, I’ll run!" shouts the youngest, full of enthusiasm. "But, mom, didn’t you forget something?" "That’s right, dear! Oh, darn it, run and bring the pot too!" The commotion in our yard grows, the fire crackles slowly, and everyone in the house gathers joyfully around the pot of zacusca.
The eggplants are roasted, peeled, and left to drain excess water, after which they are carefully chopped. I prefer to use only wooden utensils to avoid oxidizing the vegetables. The onion is peeled, cut into quarters, washed well under a stream of cold water, and then passed through the meat grinder. The peppers are cleaned of their stems, washed, and cut into quarters, following the same procedure. The mushrooms are cleaned of their stems, washed, and chopped not too finely to maintain their specific texture.
The chopped onion is placed in a pot along with a glass of water and left to simmer on low heat until the water reduces, for about 45 minutes. Don’t forget to stir occasionally to prevent sticking. The peppers are placed in a 10-liter pot, along with another glass of water, and left to simmer on low heat for another 45 minutes until they become pasty. These two steps can be done simultaneously, thus saving precious time.
After mixing the peppers with the onion in the largest pot, let them simmer together for 30 minutes. Then, add the eggplants, stirring carefully. It’s important to continue stirring occasionally to ensure even cooking. After 30 minutes, add salt, pepper, and fresh bay leaves, which bring an unmistakable aroma (if you don’t have fresh bay leaves, you can use dried ones). Let it simmer on low heat for another 15 minutes, then add the oil gradually, stirring carefully.
Let the mixture simmer for another hour, stirring periodically to prevent sticking. When the zacusca becomes pasty, add the mushrooms and tomato paste, continuing to cook until the mixture becomes homogeneous and easily separates from the sides of the pot. Meanwhile, wash the jars and let them dry in the preheated oven to sterilize.
Fill each jar with zacusca, making sure there are no air bubbles, then seal them tightly. Place them on a metal plate to avoid cracking in the cold. After filling them, let them rest in a dry steam (between blankets) for 24 hours to cool gradually. Then, label them with the date and contents, arranging them nicely in the pantry, ready to be enjoyed on chilly winter days. This mushroom zacusca is not just a delicious dish, but also a way to preserve the taste of summer in every jar.
Ingredients: 2 kg onions, 5 kg red bell peppers, 5 kg eggplants, 1.5 kg mushrooms (dew mushrooms), 1 l oil, 500 ml tomato paste, 5 bay leaves, 2 glasses of cold water, 1 tablespoon ground pepper, 2 tablespoons salt.
