2400gcan of chopped tomatoesor about 1 kg fresh (2.2 lb)
2TbspEV olive oil
1tspsweet paprika
1Tbspsundried tomato paste
½tspsalt
1tspsugar
¼tspbalsamic vinegar
Instructions
Roast the Chillies and Peppers
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F/180°Fan).
Halve the bell peppers, get rid of all the seeds and white bits. Then place them skin side up on a tray. Add the chillies, whole to the tray.This is my preferred method, as we don't need to flip them.
Place the tray in the oven to roast the chillies and peppers. The chillies will be done at around the 8-10 minute mark. Just get them out using kitchen tongs. Leave the peppers until the 20 minutes are up.
You could also grill (broil) the peppers.Place the tray under a medium grill (broiler) and grill for 10 - 15 minutes. You will have to flip them over.
Peeling and Chopping
While the chillies and peppers are cooling down, finely chop the garlic or crush them with a garlic crusher.
When the peppers are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off.Traditional advice is to place the peppers in a bag and seal, to help loosen the skin. I've never bothered, nor needed to do this, the skins come off easily enough.
Then dice them (chop them up into little cubes).
Using your knife, hold down gently on the body of the roasted chillies and using your other hand, pull off the chilli stems. Then roughly chop them up.You could lose the seeds if you like, but I prefer to leave them in. Don't forget to use gloves when handling hot chillies.
Cooking the Matbucha
Place the peppers, chillies, tomatoes and garlic in a saucepan and let it all come to boil on medium heat.
Lower the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, by which time, the mixture would have dried up considerably.
Add the olive oil, paprika, sundried tomato paste, salt and sugar and stir to mix thoroughly, Continue cooking on the same heat for another 20 minutes, stirring as needed, especially in the last 5 minutes, to stop it from burning, as it will be fairly dry by then.
Turn the heat off, add the balsamic vinegar and stir to mix well. Matbucha can be enjoyed hot or at room temperature. Some even have it cold.Store as discussed in the post above.