Lecsó: Hungary's Answer to Salsa
By FBWorld Team

Ryan Liebe for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Jamie Kimm, Prop Styling by Rebecca Donnelly

According to Wikipedia, Lecsó is a Hungarian[1] thick vegetable ragout or stew which features green and/or red peppers and tomato, onion, lard, salt, sugar and ground sweet and/or hot paprika[2] as a base recipe. The onions and peppers are usually sauteed in lard, bacon fat or sunflower oil. Garlic can also be a traditional ingredient. It is also considered to be traditional food in Czech[3], Slovak[4] and Croatian cuisine and is also very common in Poland, Austria, and Israel.

Most Hungarian recipes recommend the mildest variant of Hungarian wax pepper, which are in season August-October which is also when field tomatoes are at their best. Other recipes suggest using both bell pepper and banana pepper as alternatives. At any rate, if you would like to experiment with the salsa's of different cultures, this is easy enough to prepare, and first presented here via the Wall Street Journal.
HOG WILD | A little bit of cubed bacon in the mix gives this spicy-sweet stew of Hungarian wax peppers and tomatoes a deep, smoky savor.

BEFORE TRAVELING TO Budapest a couple of years ago, I diligently read up on Hungarian cuisine. By the time I arrived, my appetite was primed for gulyás and paprikás, dumplings andsausages, strudels and tortes. Yet as much as I savored all of these foods, the dish that really captured my heart was a modest pepper, onion and tomato stew known as lecsó. I became so obsessed with the sweet, silky, smoky stuff that I ordered it any time it appeared on a menu, which it did frequently and in many guises.

Over the course of my stay in Hungary, I enjoyed lecsó as a side dish, a sauce, an appetizer, a relish and even stirred into scrambled eggs. Some versions I had were thick and jammy and studded with hunks of smoked Hungarian sausage, others were bright and tomato-y and ladled over rice for a casual supper. At the restaurant Fülemüle, near the old Jewish district of Budapest, the chef used his house-made lecsó as a base for braising pork cutlets and goose sausage. But no matter the presentation or the exact recipe, the basic formula, I was happy to learn, is surprisingly easy to follow at home.

The key ingredient, Hungarian wax peppers, can be found in most U.S. markets. They are distinguished by their almost translucent, creamy-yellow hue, narrow shape and pointed tips. These thick-fleshed, thin-skinned peppers give the stew its characteristic balance of fruity, sweet flavor and mild capsicum heat. When selecting your peppers, bear in mind that the heat level rises as the peppers mature and redden, so the paler and yellower the pepper, the tamer the taste.

You can also substitute milder varieties, such as Italian frying peppers or cubanelle, or try a mix of different kinds. Don't opt for red or green bell peppers, though; they are too thick-skinned. Whatever the variety, removing the seeds and ribs before cooking will help temper the hotness.

Being a Hungarian dish, of course, lecsó gets another layer of cheerful, peppery warmth from paprika. The secret to cooking with this spice is to stir it into a bit of hot fat so that it has a chance to bloom and express its full, earthy, sweet-pepper character. For lecsó, I start with a combination of rendered bacon fat and sunflower or olive oil to give the stew depth of flavor and a whisper of smoky richness. I then gently cook a heap of sliced onion in the flavorful fat, stir in a generous dose of paprika, add the sliced wax peppers and finish with a few handfuls of chopped tomatoes. From there, it's merely a matter of letting the mixture simmer quietly for about 45 minutes, until the flavors release, meld and resolve into something seductively delicious and mildly addictive.

Lecsó
Total Time: about 11/4 hours

Serves: 4 as a side dish, 10-12 as an hors d'oeuvre (makes about 2 cups)

Lecsó makes a fine side dish for roasted meats and poultry, or you can serve it as a relish for grilled fish. Spread it on slices of crusty bread for an appetizer, spoon it over pasta or, using the recipe below, make a meal of it with braised chicken thighs. Lecsó keeps well; cover tightly and refrigerate for up to a week.

Ingredients
One 2-ounce piece of smoked bacon, cut into 1/3-inch cubes (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon sunflower or olive oil, or as needed
1 large yellow onion (6-8 ounces), peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
1 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1 pound Hungarian wax peppers, scored, halved, seeded and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 cup chopped tomatoes (about 8 ounces), fresh or canned

What to Do
1. In a large, lidded saucepan over medium heat, cook bacon, stirring regularly, until fat is mostly rendered, about 6 minutes. (Don't let the bacon get crisp or too brown.) Add oil to the pan so you have about 2 tablespoons fat in total.

2. Decrease heat to medium-low. Add onions and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until onion softens, about 8 minutes. Add paprika, peppers and remaining salt to pot and sauté, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes, stirring to combine. Cover pan and decrease heat to very low. Stir every few minutes for the first 10 minutes, making sure stew is gently simmering.

3. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until peppers are soft and tender, about 45 minutes more. The stew should be thick; if it seems soupy, remove lid, increase heat to medium and simmer uncovered, stirring regularly, for another 10 minutes to evaporate some of the excess liquid. Serve hot or warm.

Chicken Thighs Braised in Lecsó

Serves: 4

This technique for braising meats in lecsó comes from Fülemüle restaurant in Budapest. The original dish includes pork cutlets and goose sausage, but this delicious weeknight version calls only for chicken thighs.

Trim 8 bone-in chicken thighs and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large, deep skillet or shallow braising pan over medium-high heat and add enough sunflower or vegetable oil to lightly coat the bottom. When the oil shimmers, lay in the chicken thighs skin-side down and cook, flipping once to brown both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Do this in two batches if necessary, so as not to crowd the pan. Set aside and pour off all but a thin film of fat.

Add 2 cups lecsó (1 recipe's worth) to the pan and cook over medium heat until just simmering. Return chicken to pan, skin-side up, cover, reduce heat to low and braise gently, checking after 5 minutes to make sure the lecsó isn't bubbling too vigorously. If it is, lower the heat. After 15 minutes, spoon some lecsó over chicken thighs and continue cooking until chicken is tender throughout, about 30 minutes. While chicken cooks, boil 1 pound small white potatoes until tender. Serve braised chicken and lecsó with potatoes on the side.

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