BUDA BITES

One of my all-time favorite Hungarian dishes is túrós csusza. And it’s even better when it’s served with lecsó. Túrós csusza is essentially pasta with curd cheese (either cow’s or sheep’s milk)* and lecsó is pepper and tomato stew seasoned with paprika. It only requires simple ingredients, and I could eat it night after night (which I sometimes do when there’s a big batch of lecsó around). Recently, we made our most successful meal of túrós csusza with lecsó ever by upping the quality of all of the ingredients. Rather than using store bought pasta, we used rich, homemade, egg pasta that we bought at the market. Rather than using curd cheese from the grocery store, we also bought freshly made curd cheese at the market (which tastes nothing like the grocery store variety). Finally, we made the lecsó with just-picked peppers and tomatoes from the garden. The top ingredients made an enormous difference. The only problem is that going back to the “regular” ingredients will be a disappointment. Make lecsó now, while there are still lots of fresh peppers and tomatoes at the markets. And if you get so inspired, make an extra big batch of it for freezing or canning so you can enjoy it even when the fresh tomatoes are long gone.

Here’s how I make my túrós csusza and lecsó. If the bacon fat in these recipes scares you off, use oil instead. In Hungary, people tend to think that everything tastes better with a little bacon (and I tend to agree).

* In Hungary curd cheese (túró) is common, and sold at every grocery store and tiny food shop. In America, it’s not as easy to find (and it’s not the same). The best equivalent would be farmer’s cheese.

Túrós Csusza
500 grams (1 pound) pasta, kocka tészta (small, flat, square shaped pasta) is often used in Hungary
500 grams (1 pound) curd cheese
fatty bacon (use as much or as little as you’d like, depending on your taste)

Boil pasta in salted water. While the pasta is boiling, finely chop the bacon (szalonna, if you’re in Hungary) and render over low heat. Pour the fat into a glass pan and reserve the leftover chunks of bacon. Heat the glass pan over a low burner. When it’s done (and still a tiny bit firm), drain the pasta and add to the glass pan. Add the cheese to the pasta, and mix a little, just enough so it’s evenly distributed. Don’t stir the pasta and cheese mixture, but use a spatula to scrape the bottom and flip every few minutes. The idea is to let it get a bit brown and crispy. To serve, add the extra bacon and add sour cream if you’d like. Preferably serve with lecsó.
Lecsó
40 grams (1.5 ounces) fatty bacon, finely diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 kilogram (2 pounds) sweet peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into 2cm (¾ inch) pieces **
500 grams (1 pound) tomatoes, roughly chopped
½ tablespoon salt

Add the bacon to a pot and cook over low heat until the bacon is rendered. Add the onions, cook over low heat until they are translucent (not browned), about five minutes. Stir in the paprika and then add the peppers. Cook for ten minutes or so, and add tomatoes. Lecsó is often cooked until the peppers are mushy, but I prefer to stop the cooking before they turn to mush.

** You can increase or decrease the ratio of peppers to tomatoes if you’d like, with no real effect. This is a loose recipe, and I’ve seen it written with all sorts of quantities.