Liutenitsa - Bulgarian traditional vegetable spread (vegan)

I wasn't going to post this recipe here because it's a specialty for one particular country. A few people asked me to post it in this blog though, and who knows, maybe one of you will find it interesting . It is a vegetable spread very common in Bulgaria. It is served for breakfast on a slice of bread and if desired it can be sprinkled with some crumbled feta cheese. It is also used as a condiment for Bulgarian meatballs. I ate it with crackers too and it tasted great.
Here in Denver we have a store for Bulgarian specialties and I can get me a jar of Liutenitsa. All brands use mostly tomatoes and wheat flower or modified corn starch as a thickener though, not to mention the preservatives . Besides, the original recipe is pepper based not tomato based and I just love this chunky consistency.
Bulgarians use  Sunflower oil in general, but I made it with Olive oil and I didn't detect any difference in the flavor, so you can choose whichever oil you like.
I went to the farmer's market to buy pickles for canning but I saw these long red peppers which were called ancient red bell peppers. I thought I could give it a try and see if they would work for Liutenitsa. And surprise !!! It worked.
This spread can be canned. Thats what Bulgarians actually do. To can, just fill jars with Liutenitsa. Tighten the lid and boil the jars for 15 min. Start the timer after there is an active rolling of the water . For high altitude you need to increase the time by 10 min because water starts to boil at a lower temperature.

Ingredients :

6 lbs (3 kg) red ancient bell peppers
2 lbs (1kg ) tomatoes
2 lbs (1 kg) carrots
1 cup Olive oil
2 Tsp. Ground all spice
2 Tsp. Garlic powder
Sea salt to taste


Roast peppers. Peel skin and remove stems and seeds. Chop up finely in such a way that it looks almost like a puree. Set aside . Boil carrots until soft like for mashed carrots. While boiling carrots in a bowl, grate tomatoes. Set aside. When carrots are done, mash them with a potato masher.
In a big pot combine oil with peppers, tomato puree and mashed carrots. Start to cook on medium and later change to low heat. Stir every 5 minutes until liquid evaporates and the constancy is paste like . Add seasoning .