Hungarian Tomato-Pepper Stew with Seitan Bacon (Lecsó)

Lecsó (leh-cho) is a simple stew of several ingredients favoured in Hungarian cooking - peppers, tomatoes, and onions...and of course, a generous dousing of paprika. When made in the traditional fashion, the onions and peppers are fried in bacon fat until crisp, tomatoes are then added and the whole thing simmered until it resembles a thick tomato stew. There are actually quite a few variations; served with boiled potatoes or cooked with rice or egg barley (tarhonya), served as is, with bread or as a savory pancake filling, thickened with beaten eggs or with a fried egg on top, with bacon or kolbász sausages, and of course, with sour cream if one desires.

Veganizing this recipe was actually quite easy - I used cubes of seitan bacon from this recipe to impart a smoky flavor. It's optional though, you could certainly make this without the bacon. The photo above kinda looks like it's mostly peppers, but that's just the pic, there was plenty of tomato goodness going on. Try to get yellow Hungarian peppers if you can, but otherwise standard green ones will do just fine. This is a very simple dish to make, and can be served as a main course or a side dish...it made for a great lazy day lunch.

Splurge on some decent quality Hungarian paprika - the Spanish variation is just not the same. More on that later, remind me to tell you about the time I got into an argument with a Polish butcher (during my omnivore days) over the difference...trust me on this point.

Makes 4 large servings.


3 Tbsp olive oil
2 servings seitan bacon or store-bought equivalent
3 large green peppers, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, diced
3 large tomatoes, chopped
2-5 Tablespoons sweet and/or hot Hungarian paprika
  *add as much or as little as you like, depends on your own tastes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
black pepper (if desired)
1/4 cup sour cream of choice


Heat up a skillet or pot, preferably non-stick or ceramic (pictured is an 'Earth Chef' ceramic frying pan, awesome). Cube the seitan bacon and fry in 2 Tbsp of the oil until nicely browned, then remove and put aside. Fry the onions and green peppers in the remaining 1 Tbsp oil until browned, add the garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and paprika and continue to cook for another minute - be careful to not let the paprika burn on the bottom of the pot! Add the tomatoes, put on a lid, and simmer for 10-20 minutes, until the veggies are all well-cooked. 


During the last 2 minutes of cooking, throw in your seitan bacon to impart a wonderful smoky flavour. mmmmmm...serve with a Tablespoon of sour cream and sprinkle with paprika.


Per serving: 219 cals, 13g fat, 17g carbs, 312mg sodium, 4g fiber, 11g protein. (PRO40.2/19%,CHO64.1/29%,FAT112/52%)