Leczo: Polish pepper, zucchini and sausage stew from one pot
A leczo in which the vegetables go into the pot in turns, not all at once: sausage and onion first, then peppers, tomatoes and zucchini last. That way the peppers are soft, the zucchini keeps its shape, and the sauce is thick with tomato rather than water. The sweet paprika goes in off the heat so it never turns bitter.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Chopping 15 min
- Frying 15 min
- Stewing 30 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCut the vegetables
Seed the peppers and cut into wide strips, the zucchini into 1 cm half-moons, the tomatoes into quarters, the onions into wedges. Chop the garlic. Slice the sausage into thick coins.
Ingredients: 4 pcs bell peppers · 1 pcs zucchini · 600 g tomatoes · 2 pcs onions · 3 cloves garlic · 400 g smoked Polish sausage · 2 tbsp oil · 2 tsp sweet paprika · 1 tbsp tomato paste · 1 tsp dried marjoram · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp sugar
TipTomatoes with skin on: the skins curl up in the stew, but if you prefer, scald and peel them before cutting.
Peppers in strips, zucchini in half-moonsBrown the sausage
Heat the oil in a wide pot and brown the sausage over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the edges crisp and the fat renders. Lift onto a plate; keep the fat.
Sausage crisped, fat in the potSoften the onion, add the paprika
Soften the onion in the sausage fat for 5 minutes, add the garlic for a minute. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the paprika: in fat off the heat it gives up its colour; on the heat it turns bitter in seconds.
TipPaprika scorches very quickly in hot fat. Off the heat, stir, back on.
Paprika added off the heatStew the peppers
Put the pot back on the heat, add the pepper strips and tomato paste. Fry, stirring, 5 minutes, until the peppers begin to soften.
Peppers softening in the paprika fatTomatoes, zucchini, sausage
Add the tomatoes, zucchini, sausage, marjoram, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir, cover and simmer 25 minutes. The tomatoes release their juice and make the sauce; add no water. Uncover for the last 5 minutes to thicken.
TipZucchini added with the tomatoes softens but stays in pieces. Added earlier it would collapse into mush.
After 25 minutes: thick sauce, zucchini in piecesSeason and serve
Taste: sweet-and-sour from the tomatoes, distinctly of paprika. Add salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with bread or potatoes. Better the next day.
Ingredients: ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley · 6 pcs bread
With bread and parsley, even better tomorrow
Before you start
Without sausage
Use 200 g smoked tofu instead, or 2 more tablespoons of oil and a teaspoon of smoked paprika for the smoke.
In winter, with passata
400 ml passata instead of fresh tomatoes. Winter peppers are weaker; add one more.
Making it ahead
Leczo with sausage, peppers and onion is a low-acid preserve with meat: home water-bath processing does not protect against botulism, so do not keep it in jars in the cupboard. Freeze it instead, ideally without the zucchini (up to 3 months), and add fresh zucchini when reheating. It keeps 3–4 days in the fridge.
