What’s on the menu? Lečo, the Czech tomato-based stew

Every month, Kafkadesk brings you the best recipes from Central Europe, straight from the kitchen of our very own Chef Paulina Kotkowska. What’s on the menu today? Her Lečo, a tomato-based stew with vegetables and sausage…

Considered to be traditional food in Hungary (lecsó), Poland (leczo), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (lečo), it is very popular across Central Europe, especially during the hot summer months when you can find delicious tomatoes and peppers in your garden, if you are lucky, or at least in the markets…

A cheap and easy-to-make comfort food that may not look so good, but tastes delicious, especially with a slice of good bread… the perfect way for me to say goodbye to summer and its tomatoes!

RECIPE
Yields: 2 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS
3 tomatoes
1 pepper (red or yellow)
1 onion
2 gloves of garlic
2 hot dogs or polska kielbasa
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup water
2 Tbsp flour
1 egg
½ tsp salt
Pepper
Sour cream (optional)
Bread

INSTRUCTIONS
– Cut in small pieces all the ingredients separately (tomatoes, onion, pepper and garlic) and the sausages into small slices.
– Put the onions in a pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and roast them about 5 minutes.
– When they have taken a nice roasted color, add the minced pepper, the garlic and ½ cup of water.
– Cook it 5-7 minutes covering the pan with a lid.
– Add the tomatoes, the sausages, ½ tsp of salt and some pepper. Cook 10 minutes approximatively. You can add a bit of water if it begins to be dry.
– While it’s cooking, break one egg into a cup and beat it up with a fork.
– Put 2 Tbsp of flour in a bowl with ½ cup of water and beat.
– Once the vegetables soften, add the flour mixture in the pan and mix all together.
– Then, add the egg on it and mix until the egg is cooked.
– Serve into plates and put a bit of sour cream on top. Eat with a good bread.

KAFKADESK NOTES
The steps 7 and 8 can easily be removed for an easier version. The flour just helps to thicken the sauce.

For vegetarians, you can just remove the sausage or add some smoked tofu instead.

Dobrú chut’ !

Stay tuned for our next recipes, or check out previous ones: Bryndzové halušky, the Slovak sheep cheese gnocchi, Liptauer, the Hungarian cheese spread; and Chłodnik, the Eastern gazpacho.