MonkeyFood Ylimuulin apinanruokakeittiö ruokkii päätä ja häntää

[The version I made… (all gone by the way O_O)]

Hi y’all and thanks for waiting! The summer vacation is over tomorrow so the monkey’s back in da kitchen. Bet ya are hungry already? Since we spent 10 days of our vacation in Croatia, first on the island of Hvar and then two nights in Split, I’d like to share a very common croatian recipe for a delicious paprika sauce. It accompanied every meat platter, mixed grill and pork cutlet dish we ordered and was always as good. I googled some recipies and this was my first attempt. Pretty good I’d say, follow me!

[…and the original in Croatia.]

Croatian ketchup (it’s probably unorthodox to call this ketchup but just to give you the idea)

• 1 red bellpepper
• 1 eggplant
• (finely chopped fresh chili if you like – I didn’t have any and it’s not supposed to be hot)
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• vinegar
• salt
• olive oil

Roast the eggplant and the bellpepper in a hot oven approximately 30 minutes so that the eggplant turns softer and the bellpepper sweeter. Put the bellpepper in a plastic bag when it’s still hot so it’ll be easier to peel. Scrape the eggplant flesh out with a tablespoon and mix the peeled pepper and the eggplant in a blender together with a clove of garlic. Add a dash of vinegar and some salt to taste.

Pour a bit of olive oil into a thick bottomed kettle and add the mixture. Let it cook down mixing it often until a paste forms. You may now either eat the damn delicacy or put it in a jar for later. Excellent with meat!

NOTE: you may not want to throw the eggplant peel away. If you chop it and fry it on a pan with, say, minced meat, it’ll be tasty. I do love eggplant. Learn to love it as well!