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Hungarian pepper and tomato stew (lecso)

The Hungarian pepper and tomato stew (lecso) is one of the basic, most popular dishes in Hungarian cuisine. It’s very similar toratatouille, but the Hungarian version only has peppers and tomatoes, spiced with paprika. Despite using only a few ingredients, there are no two households that make this dish the same way!  As I live in the UK it’s not easy to find Hungarian yellow paprika (sometimes in Turkish shops) so I make my lecho with belle peppers. Lecso can be served as a main dish (with pasta, rice or bread) or as a side dish with grilled meat. It can be preserved for the winter in jars too (particularly  the sauce version). Below is the basic, vegan recipe - diced chorizo-like sausage or bacon can be added to it (just fry them together with the onion). In my family, we also like stirring in 2- 3 lightly whisked eggs at the end, and make a sort of scrambled lecso – this is a much-loved supper of my kids (although not very aesthetic looking).
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Cuisine: Mid&East European
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 yellow bell pepper
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 4 medium ripe tomatoes
  • 1 Tbsp Hungarian paprika can be spicy
  • 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper

Method
 

  1. Thinly slice the onion and peppers. Dice the tomatoes. Mince the garlic.
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or heavy-based casserole dish. Add the onion and gently sauté until transparent then adds the garlic and pepper strips. Put a lid on and gently cook for about 10 minutes.
  3. When the pepper has softened add the tomatoes and cook for another 15 minutes (under cover) or until you get a stew. (Most Hungarians like lecso to be cooked into a mushy sauce – if you want this version, cook it longer, for 25-30 minutes).
  4. Mix in the chopped parsley, season with ground pepper and serve.