LECSO – Hungarian Ratatouille

Hello Everyone!

Today’s recipe is an old-time-favorite in Hungary.  There are few ways to make this mouth-watering dish and I will share with you the most popular and original way to re-create it.

I know I said this many times, but you will fall in love with the rustic elegance of this traditional Hungarian dish.

INGREDIENTS

• 4-5 Hungarian white peppers or colored bell peppers (red, yellow, orange, green) stems and seeds removed; sliced
• 1 large onion, peeled, sliced
• 3 large or 4 medium sized tomatoes, sliced
• 1 long or 2 smaller link of Hungarian sausage (or any red smoked sausage with red paprika, such as chorizo) sliced
• 1 tbsp. of olive oil
• 3 eggs, whisked together lightly with a fork

TIP

Please remember when you add sausage to Hungarian Lecso, you don’t add any salt because the salt content of the sausage is enough for the entire dish.

Place olive oil into a large skillet; add sausage and sauté for 2-3 minutes while stirring once.  Add everything, EXCEPT  the eggs.  The eggs are put aside after you cracked and whisked them together with a pinch of salt. 

Cook dish on medium high heat for about 25-30 minutes or until peppers are soft and the liquid is almost gone.  If you have too much liquid, please cook until it’s reduced to almost none.  Add eggs and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes while stirring continuously.

Remove and serve with crusty bread.

TIP

Vegetarians could use veggie sausages or leave out the sausage altogether.

SOME FACTS

Perhaps one of the most popular dishes of Hungary is Lecso (pronounced: Lecho) or Hungarian Ratatouille with Hungarian smoked sausages, that breath life to this unique and original dish.The interesting fact about Lecso is that accept for the sausages, its ingredients are the bases for Hungarian Goulash, Hungarian Goulash Soup, Potato Paprikash, Chicken Paprikash, Hungarian Fish Soup and many more mouth-watering recipes from the goulash family. All painted bright red by Hungary’s National Spice the Hungarian Red Paprika.

TIP

I always like to prepare everything before I start cooking. It saves time during the busy dinner hour. Slice sausages, peppers, onion, tomatoes and chilli peppers. If you can’t find Hungarian smoked sausages, you may use kind of smoked sausages.

FOR MORE FREE RECIPES AND TO PURCHASE COOKBOOKS VISIT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SITES

OFFICIAL WEBSITE  FACEBOOK   TWITTER COOKING CHANNEL  EBAY STORE

 

 

 

Christmas Plate (Disznotoros) by Helen M. Radics

Hello Everyone!

Many of your asked me how to make Hungarian Sausages, Liver Sausages and Blood Sausages because you can’t find the authentic flavors of Hungary in your area.

I will share with you these mouth-watering recipes, although I don’t make my own anymore as we have a great store in my city where I can buy them for the holidays.

HUNGARIAN SAUSAGE

7 kg marbled pork (ground)
3 kg smoked bacon (country bacon)
120 gram salt (adjust to taste)
40 grams of ground black pepper
40 grams of ground caraway seeds
100 grams of garlic (minced)
150 grams of red paprika
2 tbsp. of crushed hot chili flakes

Mix together all of the above and fill into hog casings.  Let cool in fridge for a few days, then either fry them in oil or lard, or bake them in the oven.  If you decide to smoke them, you need to adjust the salt content to about 180 grams.

HUNGARIAN LIVER SAUSAGE WITH RICE

• 1 kg pork liver
• 800 gram bacon
• 1 kg pork lung
• 400 gram sticky rice
• 150 grams lard
• 250 gram onion
• 20 ground black pepper
• 10 grams of ground allspice
• 1 tbsp marjoram
• Salt
• If you can find it, then you may add cooked head meat of pork (if you are using 100 grams then deduct that from the amount of the bacon)

PREPARATION

• Cook bacon and the lungs in lightly salted water, then remove from the water and let cool.
• Remove all the membrains from the liver and ground together using a meatgrinder (use the small holed head) with the lungs and the bacon.
• Cook the rice in the bacon/lung water until soft
• Rinse rice with cold water
• Saute onion in lard until translucent
• Mix rice and onion together with the ground meat mixture
• Mix in the spices, salt and enough of the cooking liquid that’s needed to have a soft enough mixture to easily fill the casings. Do not overfill as the rice will expand and the casing will burst
• Tie ends of casings
• Cook in hot water for about 35 minutes
• Remove from cooking liquid and let cool
• You can either smooke them or just keep them in the fridge until needed
• When preparing it either bake the hurka or fry in oil or lard

HUNGARIAN LIVER SAUSAGE WITHOUT RICE

If you decide not to use rice you need to use buns.  You need to soak the buns in water, but before you add it to the meat you must squeeze out all the liquid.

HUNGARIAN LIVER SAUSAGE WITH BARLEY

Same as the Liver Sausage with Rice, but substitute the rice with barely.

HUNGARIAN BLOOD SAUSAGE

INGREDIENTS

½ liter pork blood
6 buns
400 grams of bacon
300 grams of onion
20 grams of red paprika
20 grams of ground black pepper
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp ground clovers
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)

PREPARATION

• Cut buns into small cubes
• Fry ½ the bacon and in the lard sauté chopped onion and remove from grease
  Sauté buns in bacon grease
• Cook the rest of the bacon in lightly salted water (enough water to cover bacon)
• When soft enough, remove from water
• Pour the cooking water on the buns and mix together
• Using a meat grinder, ground buns
• Mix together with the blood and spices.
• Fill hog casings and cook on medium low heat for about 30 minutes

VISIT MY WEBSITE