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    Where Is My Spoon > Recipes > Dips and Sauces

    Ajvar Recipe – Balkan Food

    Last modified: Jun 28, 2024 · Published by Adina, Jul 29, 2019 · 2 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    eggplant red pepper dip in a traditional bowl.

    This simple ajvar recipe is one of the most popular Balkan foods - smoky roasted red pepper dip with eggplants.

    ajvar recipe in a bowl

    Ajvar, a typical Balkan side dish or bread spread with roasted red peppers and eggplants, is perfect for summer when eggplants and red peppers are abundant.

    Jump to recipe
    • Balkan food
    • What is ajvar?
    • How to make Ajvar?
    • How to serve?
    • Other vegetable spreads
    • Recipe
    • Ajvar Recipe – Balkan Food

    Balkan food

    The Balkans, or the Balkan Peninsula, is a vast region in southeastern Europe stretching from Bulgaria and the Serbian-Bulgarian border to the Black Sea coast.

    During the 19th century, the term was a synonym for the provinces of the Ottoman Empire in this area, having more of a geopolitical rather than geographical definition. The term Balkan acquired a negative connotation during the Yugoslavian wars and the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and nowadays, the term Southeast Europe is preferred.

    Cabbage rolls – sarma or vine leaf Turkish sarma, stuffed peppers in tomato sauce, pork rib soup with beans (sour soups), Albanian borek, sausages like cevapcici, and many other foods are to be found in most of the Balkan countries. Vegetables like eggplants, red peppers, onions, and garlic are more popular here than in any other part of Europe.

    Balkan food was influenced by the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Hungarian cuisine (think of goulash and walnut rolls), by the Germans or Austrians (strudels or plum dumplings, for instance), or by the Slavic nations (Paska – Easter bread).

    What is ajvar?

    Like grilled sausages and sarma, ajvar is a popular Balkan dish in most Balkan countries. If you want the Romanian version, here is our beloved Zacusca.

    Ajvar is a dip, spread, or sauce made with roasted red peppers. It often includes eggplants as well. Its origins are disputed; countries like North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia all claim to have created the recipe. Today's version seems to be Albanian.

    ajvar recipe spread

    How to make Ajvar?

    You will need red peppers, eggplants, onions, garlic, olive oil, and some spices like hot paprika and smoked paprika powder.

    How to roast red peppers and eggplants?

    You can prepare the peppers and eggplants in three different ways:

    • Grill the red peppers and the eggplants on an outside grill until the skin darkens and blisters and the vegetables are soft.
    • Burn the eggplants and the red peppers on the hob, as described in this recipe for Romanian eggplant salad.
    • Roast the red peppers and the eggplants needed for the ajvar recipe in the oven.
    • Most of the time, I use the third option because that is the simplest one. I am not much into grilling outside (that's a task for my brother-in-law), and although burning the vegetables on the stove is easy and fast, I still find it more practical to use the oven.
    • However, grilling and burning the vegetables add a smoky flavor to the ajvar or roasted red pepper dip, which you cannot achieve by roasting the red peppers and the eggplants in the oven.
    • To compensate, I use a little trick: smoked paprika powder. It is not quite the same as grilling vegetables, but it adds the smoky flavor you are looking for in this recipe. I use a kind of smoked paprika that is not hot, but if you wish, you can also use hot smoked paprika.
    • Just keep in mind that the other sort of paprika powder you are using is also hot, and you might want to check while preparing the ajvar just to make sure that the roasted red pepper dip is not hotter than you would like it to be.
    two eggplants being roasted on a stovetop lined with foil.

    How to chop red peppers and eggplants?

    • To chop the eggplants, I always use this special wooden tool I bought in Romania. I am not sure if that even exists outside Romania, it is only used for chopping the eggplants roasted for the famous Romanian eggplant salad – salata de vinete.
    • It doesn't work well on red peppers, which are not quite as soft as eggplants; that is why I use a large chef's knife to chop the red peppers. You can also chop the eggplants with this knife.
    • Alternatively, you can chop the red peppers and eggplants in a food processor or with an immersion blender. Just make sure you don't turn the vegetables into a paste; they should retain some structure.
    how to make ajvar

    Preparing roasted red pepper dip

    • Once you have roasted and chopped the eggplants and the red peppers, place them in a bowl.
    • Add the very finely chopped onion and the grated garlic.
    • Stir in the white wine vinegar, lemon juice, hot paprika, smoked paprika powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
    • Slowly pour in the olive oil while stirring continuously.
    • Sprinkle with some parsley.

    Olive oil:

    • You can use as much olive oil as you like.
    • You can start with 2 tablespoons and add up to 5 tablespoons/ 75 ml/ ⅓ cup.
    • Traditionally, people would use more rather than less, but as somebody who cooks many (Romanian) traditional recipes, which always contain lots of oil, I found out that I can get away with using less oil most of the time. The dishes are still thoroughly delicious!

    How to serve?

    • Spread: The most common way (for me) of serving ajvar is as a spread on bread, with a slice of good feta cheese on the side or crumbled on top and some olives.
    • Dip: Ajvar can also be served as a dip for crackers and vegetables.
    • Sauce: For the ajvar pasta sauce, warm the ajvar and mix it with some pasta. If you like, add some feta.
    • Side dish: Sauce/side dish for grilled meats. While on holiday in Croatia, we were often served a plate of cevapcici or mixed grilled meats, djuvec rice, ajvar, and raw chopped onions. Delicious!
    serving red pepper spread on bread with feta and olives.

    Other vegetable spreads

    • fava bean dip drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with parsley and chili flakes in a bowl.
      Fava Bean Dip
    • syrian muhammara dip topped with herbs in a small blue bowl.
      Syrian Muhammara Recipe
    • romanian fasole batuta or white bean dip with gherkins and onions in a bowl.
      Romanian White Bean Dip – Fasole batuta
    • roasted red pepper white bean dip topped with roasted chickpeas and parsley on a silver plate.
      Red Pepper White Bean Dip

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    Recipe

    balkan ajvar dip in a rustic bowl sprinkled with parsley.

    Ajvar Recipe – Balkan Food

    Delicious ajvar recipe, one of the most popular Balkan foods. A great dip made with smoky roasted red pepper and eggplants.
    5 from 2 votes
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    Course: Dips, Sauces and Dressings
    Cuisine: Albanian, Eastern Europe
    Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes
    Additional Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 8 servings
    Calories: 101kcal
    Author: Adina
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    Ingredients 

    • 4 medium red bell peppers about 600 g/ 1.3 lbs
    • 2 eggplants about 500 g/ 1.1 lbs
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 1 small onion about 50 g/ 1.8 oz
    • ½ teaspoon hot paprika powder more to taste
    • ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika powder not hot, more to taste
    • 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
    • ¼ cup olive oil
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

    Instructions

    • Roast vegetables: Preheat the oven to 400°F/ 200°C. Place the red bell peppers and the eggplants on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on size, until the skin blackens and the vegetables are really soft. Turn them halfway.
      4 medium red bell peppers + 2 eggplants
    • Roasting the eggplants might take a little longer than the peppers, they are usually larger. Make sure that the eggplants are perfectly soft, undercooked eggplants are terrible.Alternatively and even better for the taste is to grill the veggies on a hot grill or burn them on the hob. See Romanian Roasted Eggplant Salad.
    • Remove skin: Cover the red peppers with plastic wrap and leave them until they cool down slightly. This will help with removing the skin. Let the eggplants cool down as well. When cool enough to handle remove the skins of the vegetables very thoroughly.
    • Chop the vegetables, not very finely; you should still have small chunks of the veggies here and there. Alternatively, you can use a food processor or an immersion blender, however, make sure that you don't turn the vegetables into a paste. The ajvar should remain only roughly chopped.
    • Spices: Add the finely chopped onion, grated garlic clove, both types of paprika powder, salt, and pepper. Mix well and add the vinegar and lemon juice.
      2 garlic cloves + 1 small onion + ½ teaspoon hot paprika powder + ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika powder + 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar + 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice + ½ teaspoon fine sea salt + ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    • Add the olive oil in a thin stream while stirring all the time. Adjust the taste with more salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve as suggested above.
      ¼ cup olive oil

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2-3 tablespoons | Calories: 101kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 136mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g
    Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @adinabeck or tag #WhereIsMySpoon!

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    Comments

    1. Adina says

      June 24, 2015 at 6:14 pm

      I think this tastes a bit different than the one you can buy here in Germany, but I like it better. Better suited as bread spread I think, the ready made one is more like a sauce, I use it mostly for casseroles and stuff like that.

      Reply
    2. Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says

      June 24, 2015 at 4:51 pm

      YES, I love ajvar! Last time I was in Los Angeles at a big Middle Eastern grocery store, I bought a couple of jars to put in my suitcase 🙂 Thanks for the reminder that I really need to make it myself!

      Reply
    5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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