Citizens, the cuisine of the proud nation of Hungary is sadly less known here in the United States than it deserves to be – and this delicious recipe is a great introduction to its glories!
Lecsó (English: Lecho, /ˈlɛtʃoʊ/ LETCH-oh; Hungarian: lecsó, [ˈlɛtʃoː]; Czech and Slovak: lečo; German: Letscho; Polish: leczo; Russian: лечо) is a Hungarian thick vegetable ragout or stew which features explicitly yellow pointed peppers, tomato, onion, salt, and ground sweet and/or hot paprika as a base recipe. By adding sliced Kolbász sausage, it becomes a main dish – it is also excellent with scrambled eggs for breakfast!
Many people refer to this is the Hungarian Ratatouille. The onions and peppers are usually sautéed in lard, bacon fat or sunflower oil. Garlic can also be a traditional ingredient. It is also considered to be traditional food in Czech, Slovak and Croatian cuisine and is also very common in Poland, Austria, and Israel.
Most Hungarian recipes recommend the mildest variant of Hungarian wax pepper, which are in season August–October which is also when field tomatoes are at their best. Other recipes suggest using both bell pepper and banana pepper as alternatives.
There is a large variety of lecsós, the base of all being a mixture of tomatoes and peppers (both sweet and hot), onions, spiced with salt, some variants also sugar, a fair amount of red paprika powder and often garlic. Some recipes may also use bay leaf, ground black pepper or thyme.
To make the perfect lecsó base, one must render the lard from the smoked bacon (if that is used instead of oil, which is also common), and fry the onion slices until the edges become slightly brownish. Next the pepper slices must be added and fried until crisp. The tomatoes come last because, if added at the beginning, they would soak the onions and the peppers.
Lecsó, like its French semi-counterpart ratatouille, often stands alone as a lunch dish, in which case it is often consumed with bread. Plain lecsó can be served as a side dish accompanying various main dishes, for example roasted chicken, pheasant, pork, beef or Eszterhazy steak.
It is widely known in Hungary that the best lecsó is made over an open fire in a “bogrács” (a cauldron), a Hungarian style barbecue. In Hungary the dish is very popular, and even has its own festivals.
In Germany, lecsó is referred to as Letscho and often used as the primary ingredient of a sauce that is used with many different meals. It is usually made of tomatoes, peppers, and onions among other regional additions.
In Poland, lecsó (called leczo) is usually made from red pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, onion and garlic, sausage, and spiced with powdered chilli pepper. Leczo should be served hot and spicy. It probably came to Poland from Hungary.
Citizens, my version is resolutely Hungarian, with the addition of a bit of garlic and thyme – I sincerely hope you enjoy this delicious recipe from central Europe! 🙂
Battle on – The Generalisimo
PrintThe Hirshon Hungarian Pepper, Sausage and Tomato Stew – Lecsó
- Total Time: 0 hours
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons rendered bacon fat (greatly preferred) or 2 tablespoons lard or if you must, oil
- 3 medium onions
- 3 red peppers
- 3 hot white hungarian bell peppers
- 1 hot banana pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 fresh tomato
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme
- 1 (14 ounce) can stewed tomatoes (whole)
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
- 1 dash hot Hungarian paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 lb Hungarian sausage (Kolbasz) – if unavailable, use kielbasa
- 1/2 cup beef stock (TFD change) or use water (original) – only used if sausages are too dry
Instructions
- In a heavy, straight-sided saute pan or a casserole (like a Dutch Oven), melt three generous tablespoons of delicious lard. Prepare all peppers, core, devein and cut into 4-6 long narrow wedges.
- Cut onions into 1/2 moon slices. Place onions, garlic and peppers into the lard on high heat. Stir-fry until it becomes like a stew, cooked, but still firm; only about 6-8 minutes – no longer, you want the integrity of the peppers to remain in tact and the bright colors to stay. Then, add all seasonings, herbs, stewed tomatoes and paste.
- Adding the Hungarian Sausage: Grab the Kolbasz (Sausage) and slice it on the diagonal – the visual effect is important. You can add the slices right into the pepper stew and let it stew together if it’s not too dry.
- Other sausage variations like Debrecen are ideal, but the drier ones, like the Gyulai sausage are also exceptionally delicious. Note: if the sausage is too dry; stew beforehand in 1/2 cup stock or water in a shallow saucepan for 10-15 minutes before adding it to the peppers. (Add both stewing liquid and sausage to the peppers).
- Let simmer until all flavors are melded; about 4-6 minutes. Warning: when you are stirring, use a wooden slotted spoon so as not to break up the peppers!
- Serving Suggestions: Serve with fluffy white jasmine rice and/or fresh Hungarian white bread.
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
- Category: Recipes
Nutrition
- Calories: 562.49 kcal
- Sugar: 19.68 g
- Sodium: 1338.51 mg
- Fat: 39.91 g
- Saturated Fat: 13.15 g
- Trans Fat: 0.41 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.17 g
- Fiber: 9.26 g
- Protein: 19.48 g
- Cholesterol: 83.88 mg
Ez mitől lecsó ,ez egy paradicsomszószba fojtott valami ,köze nincs a lecsóhoz .
Ne a képet nézd, nem azt a lecsót ábrázolja mint ami a receptben szerepel
Tipikusan amerikai hozzáállás mint a goulash receptje , hiányos ismeretek miatt olyan amilyen ! Csak ízelítőül hogy milyen a magyar lecsó :https://gasztropusztitas.blogspot.hu/2014/07/embed-szentsegtores-i-avagy-racpergelt.html#comment-form
Peter Kirbus thank you!
Ahány lecsó annyi különböző recept. A blogpostban megirta a szerző, hogy ez az ő variációja. És még lehet, hogy jó is
Sőt, amit te osztottál meg, ott is a variációk tömkelegét sorolják fel. Olyan, hogy “a lecsó” az nincs. Én annak örülök, hogy valaki Amerikában méltatta
Just use some fresh tomatoes instead of canned, and don’t add thyme, and it’s good to go. There are thousands of variations for the lecsó, basically you can add everything. The main ingredients are onions, tomatoes and hungarian bell pepper, feel free to add some other vegetables like squash, zukkini, or mushrooms. The most common variations in Hungary are lecsó with eggs and lecsó with rice. You must understand, that in Hungary, food is some kind of religion, tradition in the cousine is a serious thing.
Gémes Norbert thank you for the comment and I have certainly discovered the pain for this recipe by Hungarians!
that is not nice looking lecso,
POST your own family pics of Lesco.
mmmm one of my favourite foods. next time my mother in law makes it i am taking a picture :p
Polish version btw ^^
próbáld ki magyarországon, mert ez nem lecsó az igazi nem ilyen
Nincs igazi meg nem igazi lecsó. Ahány pasi és nő Magyarországon tudja, hogy merre van a konyha a lakásában, annyifajta lecsó recept van. A kreativitás a klassz a főzésben. És ha a fenti recept szerint készült lecsoval kinalnanak, akkor meg sem kóstolnád?
én még ilyen lecsót soha sem csináltm, pedig jó a kolbászos lecsó.
nem jól tudod, a lecsó ősi magyar étel!!!
és csak egy hagyományőrző tudhatja, milyen az igazi!!!
http://www.foodandwine.hu/2015/08/07/a-lecso-tortenete-a-lecso-szuletese-es-igaz-tortenete/
(ugyanígy a gulyás, aminek ugye már a neve is megtévesztő (ld. Váncsa), mindenkinek a világon van vmi stew féléje, ha viszont a megboldogult alapanyag foglalkozására nézve netán marhapásztor volt, akkor az aztékok joggal hívhatják az övükét “igazi gulyásnak”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozole
Igen van sok variációja ,van aki tésztát tesz bele vagy krumplit , csak azt nem értem ,hogy az már miért lecsó ?Vegyük úgy ,hogy elfogadott a szalonna ,vagy a tojás és kolbász ez ízesítésnek mint alap ,és ugye nem zöldség . de a krumpli ? Azt úgy nevezném, hogy krumpli lecsóval ,vagy lecsós tészta stb .A végén oda jutunk ,hogy tehetünk bele ,karalábét sárgarépát stb ,végül is biztos ehető , de maradjunk a hagyományosaknál ,a lecsó az maradjon lecsó és szigorúan szűk keretek között . Különben oda jutunk ,hogy egyszer csak eltűnik az igazi , nép által vagy mondjuk úgy ,hogy a nagymamáink által készített finom lecsó .
Marshal food :p
Hi there! I am painfully pragmatic about lecso.
I always make it with one third of each main ingredients (Onion-pepper-tomato). We have some variations of it and it belongs to the big family of güveç, ratatouille etc. We have some standard variations of it (one with rice, the other with small pasta called tarhonya (Egg barley) or with cooked potatoes or with eggs) these are so common you can even buy in supermarkets ready-made in cans.
I am vegan so I like to make my version of it with vegetable oil, crumbled tofu and black salt.
The main seasoning is usually the Hungarian sweet paprika, I like to use the smoked variations to proximate the original version. The Hungarian sausages it’s pretty close to the Spanish chorizo taste and there are a lot of good vegan variation of this sausage on the market.
Thank you for your choice to show something from the Hungarian kitchen. We have a nice fusion cuisine thak to the location and some really special locality too.
Look up főzelék or paprikáskrumpli for example which is really under appreciated and super simple and easy dishes of ours and my customers in London were amazed of it when I cooked these for them in London!
Hi, good receipe, but forget about thyme and beef stock. If you use fresh juicy tomatoes, the vegetables will release enough water. You can add the peppers and tomatoes the same time, the result will be better. And one last note, don’t add sugar, just use sun riped tomatoes, it will be sweet enough. 🙂
Thank you!