Name: Hungarian potato and sausage gratin
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 1 kg potatoes; 250g Hungarian paprika sausage; 6 eggs; 50g butter (approx.); 500 ml sour cream or crème fraîche (approx.); 3 Tbsp breadcrumbs or 50g grated cheese

Hungarian potato and sausage gratin

14 Mar 2016

by Emese

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

45 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Background

One of the most popular dishes in Hungary is Rakott krumpli which consists of layered potatoes, eggs and paprika sausages baked in sour cream. It's a true comfort food! Traditionally the gratin is made with breadcrumbs, but these days we often use grated cheese (Cheddar or Emmental are suitable). I like to use both. So Hungarian potato and sausage gratin is a well loved family dish all over Hungary because it's delicious but so cheap and easy to make! It's normally served with pickled onions or gherkins.

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes
250g Hungarian paprika sausage
6 eggs
50g butter (approx.)
500 ml sour cream or crème fraîche (approx.)
3 Tbsp breadcrumbs or 50g grated cheese

Instructions

Put the potatoes in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil then cook until just tender (about 7 or 8 minutes). Rinse with cold water, drain and let them cool. When cooled, remove the skin and slice them into 5mm rounds.
Cook the eggs, allow to cool, then peel and slice them too into 5mm rounds.
Skin the sausage and slice it into 5mm rounds.
Turn the oven on to 200°C.
Grease a deep, heatproof dish with some butter and scatter 1 Tbsp breadcrumbs over the base (if you're using it).
Layer the bottom with potatoes, season with salt, then add a layer of sausage and crumble some butter around. Then layer the eggs with some salt. Finally spoon over about third of the soured cream, spreading it evenly.
Repeat this layering once or twice more (depending on the size of your dish) but the top layer should be potatoes. Season with salt and pepper, pour over the sour cream and spread it evenly. Sprinkle over with breadcrumbs or grated cheese.
Put the dish into the oven and cook it for about 35-45 minutes until golden.

Tips

You can use Spanish chorizo if you can't find Hungarian sausage in the supermarket.
Bacon version: start with a layer of smoked bacon and add one more layer in the middle. You can even leave out the paprika sausage, if you like.
If you're gluten-intolerant then use gluten/free breadcrumbs or just use grated cheese.
Some people bake it for an hour - but the topping of grated cheese is added only for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
You can cook the potatoes and eggs ahead - even the day before making the dish.