Lecsó (Lecho), Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew for ecoTrain Simple Ve...

This recipe I'm sharing today is a traditional Hungarian recipe. It's my contribution to ecoTrain Simple Vegan Cooking On A Budget Month as it's vegan and budget friendly as well. I've been sharing recipes for a long time, mostly to show you some of out traditional dishes but also to encourage others to start to cook, and eat healthy.

Lockdown came as a shock for many, especially for those who were used to order in or buy takeaway food as most of the restaurants and food shops were closed. My mission is to show you, you can cook easy and healthy meals at home with a little effort. You can eat healthy and save money as well. This dish is one of those you can cook at home in a relatively short time.

Lecsó is a thick vegetable stew that you can make all year round. I prefer it during summer, when we have the vegetables in the garden though. Just like any other dish, it has endless variations. I'm going to show you mine.

Ingredients for 4:

2 peppers (one red, one green),
1 big onion,
2 garlic cloves,
4 medium tomatoes,
3 medium potatoes,
4 - 5 tbsp uncooked rice,
1 tsp salt,
1 tsp ground paprika,
2 tbsp olive oil.

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If you don't have two types of pepper, you can use whatever kind you have. I like to mix them as it gives the dish a richer flavor, just as the onions. In this case I used one type of onion as it was already big enough, two would have been too much.

Method

Heat the oil in the pen, add the onion, pepper, salt and sauté for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

This is necessary for the vegetable to become more tender.

Add the potatoes, water to cover, ground paprika, cover and cook till the vegetables are tender.

Separately cook the rice or if you are used precooked rice, you can skip this step.

When the potato is almost cooked, add the tomatoes and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Finally add the rice and cook for 5 more minutes. Add salt or any spice you think it's necessary. Serve while still hot.

Transformation Over The Years

Over the years this recipe has suffered some transformations and today you may be surprised how many varieties are served. You can find lecsó with sausage, bacon or with schnitzel. This is a vegan cooking contest, so my recipe is pure vegan but it would be vegan without the contest anyway.

Check out my latest recipes:

Lecsó (Lecho), Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew for ecoTrain Simple Vegan Cooking On A Budget Month

Method

Transformation Over The Years