As I sit here on my Canadian living room couch, my bare legs brown and my hair golden from the Middle Eastern sun, I realize that what you likely want to see after my visit are photographs and recipes for silky hummus, fat roasted eggplant, and Israeli lemon-mint lemonade. And though those are all coming in the future, they are not where I want to start my reminiscing. Those are not the true homemade flavours of my parents' home, where 
I do not know when the Slavic love affair with tomatoes developed. It is second only to our infatuation with mayonnaise, though luckily far healthier. Tomatoes make appearances in many Russian and Ukrainian dishes, perhaps influenced by the more Mediterranean kitchens of our 
We ate Ukrainian bell pepper lecho twice on my last two-and-a-half-week visit to Israel. Some months, it is served to the table every week, an easy staple that can be pulled together quickly once the weather turns summery and tomatoes and peppers become abundant (or in Israel, basically year round - even less-than-perfect tomatoes will do for this dish, or can be substituted entirely for tomato paste). The recipe I bring to you today is an adaptation of my mother's recipe-less preparation, a collection of half-accurate measurements scribbled on a kitchen pad while getting splattered with tomato sauce. If to be honest, this Ukrainian pepper lecho is never the same dish twice, the ratio of spices and cooking times shifting as time, pantry, and patience permit. But the trick here is the technique of searing the peppers first while making the sauce separately, and then combining them all together in a perfect ratio of peppers to tomatoes.
As I stepped off the tarmac this morning, I realized with an acute sharpness just how much I miss Israel already. It is always like this; the memories of 
Recipe
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Ukrainian bell pepper lecho, or the tried and true
Ingredients
- 9 bell peppers of all colours - green yellow, orange and red will all do for a delicious mix
- 6-9 to matoes - if your tomatoes are beautiful plump and juicy, go with all 9. But if what you have is a mix of watery winter tomatoes, then use six (canned tomatoes will do as well) and add a ½ cup of tomato paste to the pan once the tomatoes have reduced a little.
- 2 large onions
- 2 garlic cloves optional
- 1 Tb of paprika
- 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes optional OR 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbs of sugar or omit to taste. I always add sugar to my tomato sauces, but if you're watching refined sugars, omitting this won't hurt
- 2 ½ Tbs vegetable oil
- 1-2 teaspoon of salt or more, to taste
Instructions
- Prepare two dishes: a deep pan for the tomato sauce, and a large, heavy-bottomed pot for the peppers.
- Cut peppers into eights, or even quarters, depending on their size. You want your pieces to have texture and be noticeable, rather than breaking apart into a saucy mush. Add ½ a teaspoon of oil to the bottom of your large pot. Add peppers and cover the pot. On medium-high heat, sauté your peppers until they look seared and have softened, stirring them occasionally to ensure all sides come in contact with the heat, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat.
- Meanwhile, coarsely chop your onions and tomatoes. You want a chunky sauce, so don't worry about a getting a fine mince. Preheat a large pan to medium heat and add 2 Tbs of vegetable oil. Add onions and let cook for 10 minutes, until their colour changes. Add chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned), and let reduce on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. If using, add tomato paste. Let sauce cook for another 5-10, until it has thickened. Add all spices and taste, correcting flavours if needed.
- Add sauce into the same large pot where your peppers have cooked. Stir well to combine, ensuring all peppers are coated. Cover the pot and let cook on low heat for another 10-15 minutes, testing the peppers for your desired level of doneness (my mother prefers them with a bit of a bite to them, and only cooks them for another five; I like my vegetables soft, and go for the whole 15).
- Serve as is, with good bread, or on top of whole-grain rice. Eat cold, in room temperature, or warm.
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