Hungarian Pepper Stew with Tomatoes and Sausage (Lecsó)

We tasted many versions of lecsó—a rustic, hearty pepper stew—throughout Hungary. Our recipe is a blend of those taught to us by cookbook author Zsófia Mautner and Tibor Rosenstein, owner and chef of Restaurant Rosenstein in Budapest. Rosenstein’s version incorporates sausage, adding depth and heft to the vegetables. To emulate robustly smoky and savory Hungarian sausage, we call on two grocery store staples: bacon for rich smokiness and kielbasa for texture and spice. Sweet and subtly hot, Hungarian wax peppers are the traditional go-to, though hard to find in the U.S. In their place, we opted for an easier-to-source blend of yellow bell peppers and mildly spicy banana, cubanelle or Anaheim peppers. Like other classic Hungarian dishes, such as paprikash, lecsó is seasoned with a healthy dose of paprika. Its earthy-sweet notes complement both the peppers and sausage, while giving the stew an especially luscious consistency. We love serving this with crusty bread, but it also is delicious spooned over rice, mashed potatoes or nokedli, Spätzle-like Hungarian dumplings.