Lecsó (Hungarian pepper and tomato stew) for Brunch

We called it sausage and peppers to the uninitiated, but lecsó is more than sausage and peppers, it's a harmony of flavorful late summer ingredients. At its simplest it's actually a pepper and tomato stew, specifically a paprika and tomato stew. By paprika I'm referring not to the powdered rust-colored spice but to the actual fresh yellow wax peppers (in Hungarian, paprika is the word for pepper). Beyond these two main ingredients, lecsó also has onions and sometimes garlic. Some cook lecsó with oil, lard, or lardo. If you want it meatier, you could add slab bacon (szalonna), sausage (kolbász), and/or eggs. It's a very versatile and customizable dish.

Every family (or even family member) has their way of making lecsó. My mom made hers with vegetable oil and store-bought kielbasa, because that's what was readily available in the States. In Hungary, you'd typically use either a low-quality lecsó sausage or a high-quality cured sausage, like Csabai or Gyulai, both of which resemble Spanish chorizo because of the copious amounts of paprika (this time I mean the powdered rust-colored spice). I've known cousins of mine to make lecsó with rice served under or alongside the stew, or with eggs stirred right into the stew toward the end of cooking time. But by scrambling the eggs, you unfortunately end up with an unappetizing-looking dish. So, lecsó with eggs was never one of my favorites until I started seeing chefs in Budapest serving lecsó with eggs poached right in the stew. Like this, lecsó resembles shakshuka, and can easily be marketed as a Hungarian brunch dish. Once I tried it that way, there was no going back to the scrambled version.



During my childhood, I think it was my mom who loved lecsó the most, because we always had it nonstop during summer, especially when we were able to procure Hungarian paprika at our favorite local pick-your-own farm in Easton, Conn. Then at one point, my dad took over cooking lecsó because it was a way for him to showcase the bounty of his garden. There were less than a handful of recipes he would cook, and lecsó eventually became one of them. However, his was an interesting variation. He liked lecsó way more soupy so he added beer, oftentimes the one he was drinking. He would also add mushrooms, and a handful of lovage, because it happened to be growing in his garden. So, in the end the lecsó resembled something completely different, but it still tasted rather good! One day, I will film his recipe to share with you all, but until then I want to share with you my take on the classic lecsó, a meat lovers' version!

Meat Lovers' Lecsó (with Bacon, Sausage, and Eggs)

1 pound Hungarian yellow wax peppers or banana peppers
1 medium to large yellow onion
1/2 pound tomato
3 garlic cloves
3 ounces slab bacon, thinly sliced into lardon
3 ounces Hungarian sausage or chorizo, thinly sliced
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Core and seed the peppers, and cut them into uneven squares for a rustic look. Core and cut the onion into large chunks. Core and skin the tomato and cut it into large chunks. Finely chop the garlic.

Heat a large skillet over low heat. Add the bacon and let its fat render, about 3 to 5 minutes. Give the bacon pieces a flip, then add the sausage, and let it also render, about 3 to 5 minutes. Give the sausage a flip. Once most of the fat has been released from the bacon and sausage slices, remove them to a plate and set aside.

Raise the heat to medium-low. Add the peppers and onion. Saute while scraping up any brown bits from the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Let the peppers and onion sweat for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato. Once the tomato starts to release its juices, lower the heat, and cover. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes or until the peppers have softened and the tomato has begun to fall apart.

Add back the bacon and sausage, and the red fat that has gathered on the plate. Cover the skillet and simmer for an additional 1 to 2 minutes just so the flavors meld. Check the seasoning.

Make three burrows in the stew, and start adding the eggs one by one. I like to crack each egg into a small bowl first to make sure the yolk is intact. Keeping the heat on the lowest setting, cover the skillet and let the eggs steam through until almost set, about 3 to 5 minutes. You want the whites to look slightly unset, because by the time you bring the stew to the table, the residual heat will have cooked them completely through. Yield: 3 servings.