Traditional recipe for lecho in Hungarian in the classic version of preparation for the winter

Initially, lecho included only tomatoes and peppers. Now, some people add onions, carrots, parsnips to lecho, but this is no longer lecho, but a vegetable salad. Read the recipe for classic Hungarian lecho below.

• 2 kg bell pepper;
• 1 kg tomato;
• 1 tbsp. salt;
• 1 tbsp. l sugar;
• 100 gr. vegetable oil;
• paprika;

If you plan to make Hungarian-style lecho for the winter, add another 50 grams of vinegar.

It is better to take fleshy peppers and different colors. Wash the pepper, remove seeds and stems. Cut it into strips or squares, the main thing is not to make it too small. The pepper pieces should be large enough.

The tomatoes need to be peeled. Although, some consider this to be aesthetically pleasing and simply grind the tomatoes through a meat grinder. If pieces of skin bother you, peel it, it’s not that difficult.

Boil water in a saucepan, make a cross-shaped cut on the “butt” of the tomato with a sharp knife, and throw them into boiling water. After 10 seconds, drain the boiling water and immediately pour cold water into the pan.Thanks to this contrasting treatment, the skin of the tomatoes will peel off on its own.

Grind the tomatoes in a blender and pour the resulting tomato puree into a saucepan. Immediately pour in the vegetable oil and add paprika, salt and sugar. Bring the tomato puree to a boil and reduce the heat to prevent it from burning.

10 minutes after boiling, add chopped peppers to the tomato puree. It may not all fit at once, but don’t rush. As soon as the tomato puree boils again, the pepper will become softer and gradually disappear completely under the tomato paste.

Adjust the heat to the quietest setting, cover the saucepan with a lid and cook the Hungarian lecho for 15-20 minutes.

If you plan to roll lecho, after cooking, add vinegar to the lecho and wait until it boils again.

Place the boiling lecho into jars and immediately seal them with lids. When using vinegar, additional pasteurization is not required.

Turn the jars over and cover them until they cool completely. After this, the lecho can be placed on the mezzanine or in the kitchen cabinet. And don’t forget to try the lecho while it’s still hot. And if you add smoked hot sausages to lecho, you will immediately understand why people in Hungary love lecho.

Watch the video on how to cook spicy lecho in Hungarian style: