27 Sep Autumn delights of Serbia

Autumn is waiting for us just around the corner! Which means the delicious autumn delicacies will color up our tables and fill up our stomachs! The time of grapes, plums, pumpkins and figs is coming and we must definitely not forget the Serbian queen of the autumn- the roasted paprika! This beauty prepares us for the long winter nights by filling our short autumn days with its amazing taste and a variety of products that can be made out of it. The absolute winner is definitely the roasted version of this autumn delight that you can further on use to make some finger licking ajvar or different kinds of salads you can eat together with your autumn dishes.

We invite you to taste some roasted paprika’s while staying in Serbia during the autumn days, either in the form of lučene paprike, roasted paprika’s in the onion marinade, or in the form of ajvar, a dip made out of roasted paprika’s, roasted eggplant and garlic!

If you want to bring this sweet autumn taste back home with you we also offer you a simple recipe how to roast paprika’s Serbian style! J

Basic recipe

1. Wash the paprika’s and dry them.
2. Roast the whole paprika’s in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees. If you have the possibility you can also roast them on the barbeque which would make them taste even better!
3. While roasting you should turn paprika’s till the black layers show on both sides.
4. When they are roasted you should put them in a bowl and cover until they cool down (this step will make the pealing process easer).
5. When they cool down, peal the black layer, take the peduncle and the seeds out.

You can just add salt and pepper to paprika’s prepared in this way and they’re ready to be eaten! They are great as a side dish. You can keep them in your freezer up to a week.

Ideas for further preparation

• Roasted paprika’s salad add some chopped parsley and garlic, oil and vinager
• Paprika’s stuffed with cheese stuff roasted paprika’s with your favorite cheese and put them back in the oven untill the cheese melts
• Spreads add some nuts or seeds and spices to the roasted paprika’s, chop it all together and smear it on the bread
• Winter dishes use roasted paprika’s to prepare ajvar. The ajvar recipe is waiting for you in our special booklet that you get at the end of Food and Culture in Belgrade Tour! J