Ingredients
- 500g tomatoes
- 2 onions
- 4 tbsp oil
- 150g bacon bits (optional)
- 1 tbsp Paprika powder
- 2 tbsp Paprika cream (Mild)
- 1 kg fleshy bell peppers (pointed peppers)
- 1 tsp mild or spicy pepper sauce (e.g., Erős Pista)
- 250g kolbász (Hungarian sausage), sliced
Preparation
To prepare the lecsó, wash and cut the tomatoes into wedges and the peppers into rings or thin strips (remove the seeds first). Pour oil into a large pot or bogrács. Peel the onions and slice them into half-rings. Once the oil is heated, sauté the onions (along with the bacon bits) over high heat until translucent. Remove the pot from the heat and sprinkle the onions with paprika powder. Add the paprika cream as well. Next, add the pepper rings to the pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook briefly over medium-high heat. Cover and let it simmer gently for about 15 minutes.
Next, add the tomatoes to the mixture. Let the whole dish simmer covered for another 15 minutes over low heat, stirring gently every now and then. The juices from the tomatoes will create a thick, savory sauce. In the final 10 minutes, add the sliced kolbász. The lecsó is ideal when the peppers are tender but still have some "bite" (avoid letting them get too mushy). Finally, stir in the spicy or mild pepper sauce and serve with tarhonya, rice, or fresh bread.
Enjoy your meal!
Preparation time: ± 50 minutes
