Eastern European · Lunch · Dinner
Lecsó (Hungarian Pepper and Tomato Stew)
Lecsó
Sweet yellow peppers, ripe tomatoes and soft onions slowly stewed together with Hungarian paprika into a glossy, summery stew. It's a light vegetarian version that keeps the classic flavour and uses just a spoonful of oil.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Serves
- 4
Calories come from: Carbs 60% · Fat 29% · Protein 11%
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Ingredients
For 4 servings- 6 medium700 gYellow or light green Hungarian wax peppers (or yellow bell peppers)
- 4 medium500 gRipe tomatoes
- 2 medium220 gOnions
- 2 cloves6 gGarlic
- 1 tbsp14 gSunflower oil
- 1 tbsp7 gSweet Hungarian paprika
- 1 tsp6 gSalt
- 1/4 tspBlack pepper, ground
- 1/2 tspSugar (optional)
- 3 tbsp45 gWater
- 2 tbsp8 gFresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Steps
- 1
Halve the onions and slice them into thin half-moons.
- 2
Seed the peppers and cut them into rings about 1 cm wide.
- 3
Cut a small cross in the base of each tomato, dip in boiling water for 30 seconds, then peel and chop roughly.
- 4
Finely chop the garlic.
- 5
Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium-low heat.
- 6
Add the onions with 2 tbsp of the water and cook gently for 8 minutes until soft and translucent.
- 7
Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- 8
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the paprika so it does not scorch and turn bitter.
- 9
Return the pan to the heat, add the peppers and the remaining water, cover and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then.
- 10
Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper and the sugar if the tomatoes are tart.
- 11
Simmer uncovered for 10–12 minutes until the peppers are tender and the sauce has thickened.
- 12
Taste and adjust the seasoning, then scatter with parsley and serve.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use yellow bell peppers instead of Hungarian wax peppers if you can't find them; the stew will be a little sweeter and milder.
- Swap the fresh tomatoes for a 400 g can of chopped tomatoes when good ripe tomatoes are out of season.
- Use smoked paprika for half of the sweet paprika to get a smoky flavour without adding sausage.
- Replace the sunflower oil with olive oil or rapeseed oil, using the same amount.
Storage
Cool and refrigerate within 2 hours in a covered container, and eat within 3 to 4 days, reheating until steaming hot. It also freezes well for about 2 to 3 months, though the peppers will soften further. If you stirred in eggs, eat it fresh or within 1 to 2 days and don't freeze it.
Make ahead
Slice the onions and peppers and peel and chop the tomatoes up to a day ahead, storing them covered in the fridge. You can also cook the whole stew a day or two early, since the flavour deepens overnight, and add the parsley when you reheat it.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
No major allergens in the ingredients.
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (375 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 118 kcal | 31 kcal |
| Protein | 3.6 g | 1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 19.7 g | 5.3 g |
| of which sugars | 10 g | 2.7 g |
| Fiber | 6.1 g | 1.6 g |
| Fat | 4.3 g | 1.1 g |
| of which saturated | 0.6 g | 0.2 g |
| Sodium | 598 mg | 159 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
