Lecsó

Ingredients

Base

• 1 kgTV paprika or sweet pointed peppers, in thick strips
• 600 gripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2onions, sliced
• 3 tbsplard
• 1 tbspsweet paprika
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspsugar
• black pepper

Optional

• 200 gkolbász sausage, sliced
• 200 gsmoked bacon, diced
• 4eggs

To serve

• fresh white bread
• rice or nokedli

Directions

1. Use fleshy pale sweet peppers rather than thick-walled bell peppers.
2. TV paprika, the pale yellow-green Hungarian sweet pepper, is what lecsó is built on. Bell peppers hold too much water and give a thin, watery result.
3. If using bacon or sausage, render it first in the pan and lift it out.
4. Fry the onions slowly in the lard until soft and golden, about 10 minutes.
5. Now take the pan off the heat before the paprika goes in.
6. Paprika burns in hot fat within seconds and turns bitter. Off the heat, stirred into warm fat, it blooms instead. This is the one rule of Hungarian cooking and it applies here as everywhere.
7. Stir in the paprika, then return the pan to a low heat and add the peppers.
8. Cook the peppers for 10 minutes, letting them soften and release their liquid.
9. Add the tomatoes, salt, sugar and pepper.
10. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until the peppers are completely soft and the liquid has reduced.
11. Cook it down properly. Lecsó should be thick and glossy with the oil separating at the edges, not a pan of vegetables sitting in juice.
12. Return the sausage or bacon for the last 5 minutes if using.
13. For the egg version, crack the eggs straight into the pan at the end and stir them through until just set.
14. Stir the eggs in loosely and take the pan off while they still look slightly underdone, because they carry on setting in the heat.
15. Serve hot with plenty of fresh white bread for mopping.
16. It is high-summer food, made in quantity when the peppers and tomatoes are at their cheapest and best, and much of it is bottled for winter.
17. It is a base as much as a dish: leftover lecsó goes into stews, onto pasta, and under eggs the next morning.

Technique

• Whether lecsó may contain rice, sausage or egg is a genuine and unresolved Hungarian argument.
• It is bottled or frozen in summer by households across the country.
• It is closely related to Serbian đuveč, Bulgarian gyuvech and Basque piperade.

Substitutions

• Sweet pointed romano peppers, which are the closest widely available thing.
• Oil in place of lard, at some cost to the flavour.

Variations

• With eggs stirred through, as tojásos lecsó.
• With kolbász sausage.
• Plain, with no meat at all, which is the purist version.

History

Peppers, tomato and onion stewed in lard, made in bulk when the summer pepper crop is cheap and jarred for winter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lecsó?

Lecsó is a main from Hungary: pepper, tomato and onion stew, often with sausage, egg. Peppers, tomato and onion stewed in lard, made in bulk when the summer pepper crop is cheap and jarred for winter.

How long does Lecsó take to make?

Lecsó takes 15 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Lecsó?

Yes, within limits. Sweet pointed romano peppers, which are the closest widely available thing. Oil in place of lard, at some cost to the flavour.

What is the most important thing to get right in Lecsó?

Use fleshy pale sweet peppers rather than thick-walled bell peppers.