Recipe: Vegetarian Lesco

"Get the gulyas. Unless you want vegetarian, in which case, get the eggplant, peppers and noodle stuff"

-Sunny Rico
Finder by Emma Bull

Whew! Managed to survive the holidays and finish a year long blogging project on handmade gifts. Time to get back to the good stuff, no?

Today's recipe is based on a Hungarian saucy stew called Lesco. Its ingredients vary, but it always contains peppers and paprika.


Vegetarian Lesco

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 large onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 sweet green pepper, chopped
• 4 Hungarian wax peppers
• 2 red Anaheim peppers
• 1 cup veggie broth
• 3 tbs tomato paste
  
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbs paprika
• 1 tbs caraway seeds, crushed
• black pepper to taste
• 2 cups egg noodles
• 4 tbs butter
• sour cream

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, salt, and brush with olive oil. Place face down on cookie sheet and bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool so it can be handled.

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent then add peppers. Cook peppers a few minutes. While they cook, scoop the seeds out of the eggplant, then scoop the flesh out of the purple skin. If it comes out mushy, add it to the peppers and onions. If it comes out more solid, chop it before adding it to the pan. Add veggie broth, tomato paste and spices.

Put noodles on to cook and let the stew simmer until it thickens up. When noodles are done, drain and add butter, stirring to coat. Serve lesco over noodles and top with sour cream, if desired.