[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":377},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:lecso":3,"recipe:country:hungary":173},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":39,"serveWith":49,"storage":51,"faq":52,"equipment":68,"baseServings":71,"prepMinutes":72,"cookMinutes":73,"difficulty":74,"course":75,"diet":78,"mainIngredients":81,"ingredients":86,"instructions":125,"nutrition":150,"images":156,"keywords":166,"publishedAt":171,"updatedAt":171,"authorSlug":172},"lecso","Lecsó (Hungarian Pepper and Tomato Stew)","Lecsó","LEH-choh","hungary","Nationwide","🫑","High-summer Hungarian stew of sweet yellow peppers and ripe tomato melted down in lard with onion and paprika, eaten plain from the pan, stirred with egg, or loaded with paprika sausage.","Lecsó is peppers and tomatoes cooked until they give up and turn into their own sauce. Pale yellow Hungarian TV paprika peppers are sliced into rings, softened in lard with onion and sweet paprika, then joined by chopped ripe tomato and simmered until the whole pan collapses into a thick, glossy, faintly sweet stew. That is the entire dish. It is eaten as it is with bread, or stretched into a full meal with eggs stirred through at the end or slices of smoked paprika sausage added at the start. The flavour is sweeter and cleaner than the ingredient list suggests, because nothing is browned and nothing competes: you are tasting concentrated peppers, and the paprika is there to reinforce them rather than to take over.","Lecsó is the taste of Hungarian August, and it exists because of a glut. When peppers and tomatoes ripen at the same time in enormous quantities, you cook them together, and every household in the country has a version. It shares obvious DNA with Balkan and Mediterranean pepper stews — Serbian đuveč, Basque piperade, Provençal ratatouille, Turkish şakşuka — and the family resemblance across that whole belt of pepper-growing Europe is not a coincidence so much as a shared answer to a shared harvest.\n\nThe pepper matters more than anything else. Hungarian TV paprika is a pale yellow-green, thin-walled, sweet, slightly waxy pepper that cooks down fast and sweetens as it goes. Bell peppers are thicker-walled and more watery, and a lecsó made with them is noticeably less concentrated — perfectly good, but a different dish. In Hungary lecsó is also preserved in enormous batches in late summer, jarred or frozen so that in February you can open a jar and have the base of a meal ready. That practicality is part of why it stayed a national staple rather than a seasonal curiosity.\n\nWhat it gets served as is entirely negotiable, and Hungarians argue about it with some enjoyment. Plain lecsó is a side dish for grilled meat. Tojásos lecsó has eggs stirred in at the end until barely set, which is a common lunch. Kolbászos lecsó has sliced smoked paprika sausage in it and is a dinner. Some cooks add rice to the pan and make it into a one-pot meal, which purists consider a step too far. The one thing nobody adds is water — if the pan looks dry, the answer is more tomato, or more patience.",[15,16,17,18],"Keeps the ratio right: peppers dominate, tomato supports, and nothing is diluted with added water.","Cooks the onion and blooms the paprika properly before the vegetables go in, so the base has depth.","Gives the three standard finishes — plain, with egg, with sausage — as one recipe rather than three.","Honest about what happens if you can only find bell peppers, and how to compensate.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Slice the peppers into rings or wide strips rather than dice. They hold their shape better and look like lecsó rather than sauce.","Never add water. If the pan seems dry, add another chopped tomato — the vegetables release plenty of liquid on their own.","Cook it uncovered for the last ten minutes so the liquid concentrates instead of stewing into a watery pool.","Use lard if you have it. It rounds the sweetness of the peppers in a way that neutral oil does not.","A pinch of sugar rescues out-of-season tomatoes, but taste first — good August tomatoes need nothing at all.","Make double and freeze half in flat bags. Lecsó thaws perfectly and becomes the base for a dozen winter meals.",[27,31,35],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Hungarian TV paprika peppers","Sweet Italian frying peppers, Romano peppers or bell peppers","Frying and Romano peppers are the closest — thin-walled and sweet. Bell peppers hold more water, so cook them ten minutes longer uncovered to concentrate the pan.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Lard","Sunflower oil or olive oil","Sunflower oil is the standard modern swap and makes the dish vegan when no sausage or egg is added. Olive oil works but pushes the flavour Mediterranean.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Fresh tomatoes","400 g tinned chopped tomatoes, well drained","Perfectly acceptable out of season. Drain them properly, or the pan takes far longer to reduce and the peppers overcook while you wait.",[40,43,46],{"name":41,"description":42},"Tojásos lecsó","Three or four beaten eggs stirred into the finished pan over low heat until just set in soft curds. The most common lunchtime version.",{"name":44,"description":45},"Kolbászos lecsó","Sliced smoked paprika sausage rendered in the pan before the onions, so its fat and colour run through the whole dish. Dinner rather than a side.",{"name":47,"description":48},"Lecsó with rice","Rice added with the tomatoes plus a little stock, turning it into a one-pot meal. Common in home kitchens and firmly rejected by purists.",[50],"Fresh white bread for the pan juices, or as a side to grilled pork chops and sausages.","Keeps 4 days refrigerated and tastes better on day two once the pepper flavour has settled. Reheat in a pan rather than a microwave so the extra liquid cooks off again. It freezes exceptionally well for 6 months — cool it completely, freeze flat in bags, and thaw straight into a hot pan. Freeze it plain, without eggs; eggs stirred in before freezing turn rubbery and weep water on thawing.",[53,56,59,62,65],{"question":54,"answer":55},"What kind of peppers should I use for lecsó?","The traditional pepper is Hungarian TV paprika — pale yellow-green, thin-walled, sweet and mild. Sweet Italian frying peppers or Romano peppers are the best widely available substitutes because they share that thin flesh and cook down quickly. Bell peppers work but are thicker and more watery, so the finished stew is less concentrated unless you cook it longer.",{"question":57,"answer":58},"Is lecsó vegetarian?","The base recipe of peppers, tomato, onion and paprika is entirely plant-based, and it is vegan if you cook it in sunflower oil instead of lard. It becomes vegetarian rather than vegan when eggs are stirred in, and stops being either when smoked sausage goes into the pan, which is one of the three standard ways to serve it.",{"question":60,"answer":61},"Why is my lecsó watery?","Either the pan stayed covered too long or the peppers were thick-walled bell peppers holding a lot of water. The fix is the same in both cases: take the lid off and keep it on a medium heat until the liquid reduces and the vegetables sit in a glossy sauce rather than a pool. Never add water to lecsó, and drain tinned tomatoes before using them.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"Can I make lecsó out of season?","Yes. Use good tinned tomatoes instead of fresh, and whatever sweet thin-walled peppers you can get. Hungarians solve the problem differently by preserving huge batches during the August glut — jarred or frozen lecsó is a standard pantry item, and freezing your own in flat bags gives you an excellent base for winter meals.",{"question":66,"answer":67},"What do you eat lecsó with?","Most often with plenty of fresh bread to mop the pan, either as a light meal on its own or as a side to grilled or roasted pork. With eggs stirred through it becomes a full lunch, and with sausage it becomes dinner. It is also used as a base: spooned under a fried egg, folded through rice, or served alongside potatoes.",[69,70],"Wide heavy sauté pan or shallow casserole","Sharp knife",4,15,35,"easy",[76,77],"main","side",[79,80],"gluten-free","dairy-free",[82,83,84,85],"bell-pepper","tomato","onion","paprika",[87,92,95,99,104,107,110,114,118,122],{"ref":82,"qty":88,"unit":89,"name":90,"group":91},800,"g","sweet yellow Hungarian or Italian frying peppers, deseeded and sliced into rings","For the stew",{"ref":83,"qty":93,"unit":89,"name":94,"group":91},500,"ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped",{"ref":84,"qty":96,"unit":97,"name":98,"group":91},2,"piece","onions, halved and thinly sliced",{"qty":100,"unit":101,"name":102,"note":103,"group":91},3,"tbsp","lard","or sunflower oil",{"ref":85,"qty":105,"unit":101,"name":106,"group":91},1,"Hungarian sweet paprika",{"qty":105,"unit":97,"name":108,"optional":109,"group":91},"hot green pepper, thinly sliced",true,{"qty":105,"unit":111,"name":112,"note":113,"optional":109,"group":91},"pinch","sugar","only if the tomatoes are out of season",{"qty":115,"unit":116,"name":117,"group":91},null,"to taste","salt and black pepper",{"qty":119,"unit":89,"name":120,"optional":109,"group":121},250,"smoked Hungarian paprika sausage, in thick coins","Optional additions",{"ref":123,"qty":71,"unit":97,"name":124,"optional":109,"group":121},"eggs","eggs, lightly beaten",[126,130,134,138,142,147],{"title":127,"text":128,"timerSeconds":129},"Render the sausage, if using","If you are making the sausage version, put the coins of smoked sausage into a cold wide pan with one tablespoon of the lard and cook over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until the edges curl and the fat runs out orange. Lift the sausage onto a plate and leave the coloured fat behind.",270,{"title":131,"text":132,"timerSeconds":133},"Soften the onions","Add the rest of the lard and the sliced onions with a pinch of salt. Cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the onions are floppy and translucent and just beginning to take on colour at the edges.",540,{"title":135,"text":136,"tip":137},"Bloom the paprika","Pull the pan off the heat, wait a few seconds for it to cool slightly, then stir in the sweet paprika until the onions are coated and the fat turns red. Get the peppers into the pan straight away so the powder cannot scorch.","Paprika burns in seconds in a hot dry pan and turns permanently bitter. Off the heat, then vegetables immediately.",{"title":139,"text":140,"timerSeconds":141},"Sweat the peppers","Return the pan to medium heat, add {qty:bell-pepper} of sliced peppers and the hot green pepper if using, stir to coat, and cook covered for 10 minutes. Stir once or twice; the peppers should slump and lose their raw crunch without browning.",600,{"title":143,"text":144,"timerSeconds":145,"tip":146},"Add the tomatoes and reduce","Tip in the chopped tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cook uncovered over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes. It is ready when the tomato has broken down completely, the peppers are silky, and dragging a spoon across the pan leaves a channel that fills back slowly rather than instantly.",840,"Taste here. If it is sharp rather than sweet, a single pinch of sugar fixes it; good summer tomatoes will not need it.",{"title":148,"text":149},"Finish the way you want it","For plain lecsó, stop here and serve. For the sausage version, return the coins to the pan and warm through for 2 minutes. For tojásos lecsó, lower the heat, pour in the beaten eggs and stir slowly for about a minute until they set in soft curds that still look glossy.",{"calories":151,"protein":152,"carbs":153,"fat":154,"fiber":152,"sugar":155,"estimated":109},260,5,18,19,11,[157,160,162,164],{"src":158,"alt":159},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flecso\u002Fhero.jpg","Pan of Hungarian lecso with yellow pepper rings and collapsed tomato in glossy red paprika sauce",{"src":161,"alt":159},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flecso\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":163,"alt":159},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flecso\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":165,"alt":159},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Flecso\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[4,167,168,83,85,169,170],"hungarian","pepper 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