Lecho – Bell Pepper, Tomato and Onion Stew

Lecho is a bell pepper and tomato stew that is cooked together and then preserved in jars for months to enjoy as a side dish or simply as a topping on black bread. This recipe has the addition of carrots, onions and garlic to add more flavor and texture.

Lecho is a salad in a jar, made by stewing bell peppers in tomatoes. The flavors are so simple, but nevertheless, very satisfying. In our family, we always added carrots, onion and garlic as well. It is great to have on hand to serve as a side dish and I love it so much I often eat it all by itself as a snack. If you’re wondering what to do with a huge harvest of bell peppers, this is the perfect recipe to make and then enjoy for months to come.

For the perfect texture, I like to cook the onions, carrots and bell peppers separately and then add them all to a large stock pot full of tomato juice. At the end, with the addition of some sugar, vinegar and garlic, I simmer it until all the flavors marry and come together in the most delicious, rich stew.

You can serve this over rice or as a topping on black bread but there are so many other options. Most of the time, we open up the jars and serve the Lecho as a cold salad with meat, poultry or seafood. You can also warm it up, add some fresh herbs and serve it with Beef Fajitas, as an omelet filling or topping and so much more.

What Is Lecho?

Lecho is a Hungarian recipe, sometimes spelled Lecsó, and is a delicious bell pepper and tomato stew. It is well loved in many other countries. In our Belarusian family, we really enjoyed this recipe as well and my mom would make it every year with our garden produce. The bell peppers are cooked together in a tomato stew and then canned for the winter months.

In our family, we made our Lecho with the addition of carrots, onions and garlic. I most definitely do not claim that this is an authentic recipe. I am simply sharing the recipe that we have loved in our family for decades.

Ingredients:

• onions (yellow or white onions)
• carrots
• bell peppers
  • Most of the time, we used sweet red bell peppers, but you can use any color or sweet peppers. You can also add some hot peppers if you want to add some heat to the recipe.
• olive oil (or avocado oil)
• tomato juice
  • You can use homemade tomato vegetable juice or store bought tomato juice. Use a juice that you would enjoy drinking.
  • Many recipes use crushed tomatoes or tomato puree, but I love using tomato juice. It’s much easier and gives the Lecho the best texture.
• sugar (granulated or raw cane sugar)
• distilled white vinegar (5%)
• garlic
• salt, ground black pepper, to taste

How To Make Lecho

1. Prep all the veggies.
   • Cut the onions into half circles or from pole to pole into strips.
   • Peel and slice the carrots into thin circles.
   • Remove the seeds and stems from the bell peppers, then cut them into 1 1/2 – 2 inch pieces.
2. Bring the tomato juice to a boil in a large pot or Dutch oven, then reduce to a simmer.
3. Saute the veggies. Heat about 1 Tablespoon of oil in a large skillet, then saute each of the vegetables in batches.
   • Saute the onions in 2 batches, season with salt and ground black pepper to taste.
   • Next, saute the carrots in 2 batches, seasoning with salt and ground black pepper.
   • Lastly, saute the bell peppers in 3 batches, also seasoning with salt and ground black pepper to taste.
   • Each of the vegetables should be softened and cooked through, but not falling apart. They should still have a bit of crispness. You can cover the skillet to create steam to make this process faster. Cook everything on medium heat. Add more oil each time you start a new batch.
4. Meanwhile, add each batch of vegetables as soon as they are done cooking to the hot tomato juice. Keep it at a very low simmer.
5. After adding the last of the sauteed veggies, add the sugar, vinegar and garlic. Season with salt, if needed. (The amount will depend on how salty the vegetable juice is. If it’s low sodium juice, you will need to add more than to the regular juice.) Bring to a boil again, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for an additional 10 minutes or so. (If you don’t saute the vegetables long enough, you may need to simmer them together longer.)
6. You can add more sugar, vinegar, salt and/or garlic to adjust the flavor of the Lecho to your taste preference.

How to Preserve Lecho

• Sterilize the jars that you will be using.
  • Wash the jars and lids in hot and soapy water. Place the glass jars in a 200 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 15 minutes. (You can also just run the jars through a dishwashing cycle to sterilize.)

• Put all the lids into pot full of boiling water to sterilize them. Do not boil the lids, just let them stand in the hot water for about 10 minutes.

• Pour the hot Lecho into the sterilized jars and top with clean and sterilized lids. Leave a little bit of room at the top of each jar. Make sure to wipe the rims of the jars before placing the lids on top.
• Remove any air bubbles, by using a metal skewer (or a long fork, etc) and moving it up and down each jar, helping the Lecho settle.
• Top each jar with the lids and screw it on. If you will eat it within 2 weeks, you can store it in the refrigerator just like this.
• If you want to preserve it longer, pressure can the jars of Lecho.
  • You can also do this in a stockpot.
  • Place the jars into boiling water and make sure they are covered with water up to the top of the jars. Boil for at about 10 minutes. Take the jars out of the boiling water. Cool the jars in a towel for about 12 hours. The lid should be concave.
  • I use 32 oz jars to store the Lecho and I got almost 5 of these jars. I preserved 4 full jars and we served one jar right away.

Serving

Lecho is wonderful to have on hand. Of course, you make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator, or preserve it as a pantry staple. Anytime you need a quick side dish, all you have to do is pour it into a serving dish. It’s also a great addition to other dishes, such as Lazy Cabbage Rolls.  

• Most of the time we serve it cold, but you can warm it up and serve it over rice or alongside mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes. In that case, I like to add some fresh herbs to the Lecho, such as dill, parsley, green onions or basil.
• Serve it with Roasted Salmon instead of the tomato topping.
• Lecho is delicious with grilled chicken, grilled steak or chicken kabobs.
• Try it as a topping for an omelet.
• Use it as a topping for Beef Fajitas.
• It’s delicious served with Beef and Rice Plov.

Print