Hungarian Pattypan Squash Stew (Patiszonos Lecsó)
Lecsó is probably – after gulyàs – the second most famous Hungarian dish. It is a kind of light stew prepared with peppers, tomatoes and the famous Hungarian paprika (of course you might see some old-fashioned versions swimming in fat, but it’s up to the cook to decide whether one tablespoon oil is enough or not and my version is always light). Best made with ripe, aromatic long Hungarian or Turkish peppers, lecsó is the late summer dish par excellence. I make the basic version quite often, based on Zsuzsa’s excellent recipe (see my post here) not only because I love it, but also because its serving possibilities are endless. It is, first of all, a side-dish, perfect served with any meat, fish or seafood, but throw sliced sausage, a chicken breast or eggs, and you obtain an easy one-dish meal that can be enjoyed simply with some bread, with rice or potatoes.
Last week my neighbour kindly offered me some vegetables and among them this beauty:
I hadn’t had pattypan squash for at least two years, so my neighbour’s present was a pleasant surprise and an occasion to experiment with it. If you have never seen or tasted pattypan squash, it’s a distant cousin of courgette with a funny flying saucer shape (as you can see above). This representative of summer squashes family is (according to Wikipedia) also called sunburst squash, white/yellow squash, cibleme or scallop squash (patiszon in Hungarian, pâtisson in French). Mini pattypan squashes (size of a small walnut) are sold in many European countries pickled in vinegar, but the more frequently found, big variety is simply cooked or baked.
Thanks to its shape, a big patty pan squash can be stuffed and baked, but the easiest way to prepare it is to peel it, cut into cubes and fry or simmer in a stew or sauce. I had a lot of ripe tomatoes, some fresh chilli peppers, so I decided to prepare a pattty pan squash lecsó with chillies instead of the usual sweet peppers. Served with fried chorizo or Hungarian hot sausage, this lecsó was probably the best patty pan squash dish I have ever had.
If you don’t have a pattypan squash, probably the basic – sweet pepper and tomato – version of lecso will be easier to shop for:
TIPS: If you don’t like like chilli, you can prepare this lecso of course with sweet fresh peppers instead.
If you have access to caraway seeds, make sure you add them. No one will guess their presence, but they improve and deepen the taste. Do not mix up caraway seeds with cumin seeds. They look similar, but the taste is slightly different and cumin will give a different result I cannot guarantee.
Preparation: around 1 hour
Ingredients (serves three as a side dish or two as a main dish if you add some meat or sausage into the stew):
1 pattypan squash weighing about 500 – 600 g
4-5 big tomatoes
1 medium onion
5-6 big medium hot chilli peppers (I have used the Turkish medium hot variety called aci sivri) or mild peppers (the best are long, light yellow peppers)
sweet paprika (Hungarian is the best but if don’t have access to it, take any bright red good quality sweet pepper powder; Korean is a great option too)
salt
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon oil
(sausage or two chicken breasts if you want to serve it as a main dish)
Peel the pattypan and cut the flesh into big, bite-sized cubes. You can remove the part with seeds or keep it if the seeds are not too big (I have kept it).
Peel the garlic and chop it finely.
(If you want to peel the tomatoes, put them in boiling water for a minute. Take them out with a slotted spoon and put into cold water. Peel them.) Chop the tomatoes roughly.
Core the peppers, remove the stalks and cut them into slices.
Chop the onion and fry it in fat until soft and translucent.
Remove from the heat, add the remaining ingredients.
Simmer covered until the peppers are soft, checking if you need to add more water.
Add the pattypan cubes after about 20 minutes.
Keep the stew simmering.
If you want to serve it with sausages, I strongly advise frying or grilling them before. It gives much more taste to the lecsó. Add the sausage slices, cook for 10 more minutes and serve.
If you want to serve it with eggs, beat the eggs in a bowl and simply pour them into the pan with lecsó, stir a bit and serve when the eggs are set.
I love these types of stew — very hearty and full of comfort when eaten. I’ve never seen pattypan squash before or maybe I am just not paying attention (like my wife always says, haha). I am not sure if that is available in American market but I will be on a lookout. Thank you, Sissi and have a good weekend which is almost here.
Thank you so much, Ray. It’s hearty but very light: perfect for the summer when one gets hungry! In Europe pattypan squash is I think never sold in supermarkets but I see it throughout the summer on farmers markets. It’s not that different in taste from summer squash but the shape is funny and gives an opportunity to fill it with something and bake it. Have a lovely weekend too!
Sissi when I opened my dahsboard, there it was your recipe on top! Thank you for the kind mention. As for the patiszon, everything tastes better with Hungarian paprika and lecso! I have a Hungarian recipe book where lecso [preserved in bottles] is added to myriad of things. But really, this shows that a thinking, creative person is in the kitchen. You instinctively know what ingredients will work together. All the homey tasting good dishes came into existence this way. I have not seen this dish in a cookbook – not yet – you may think of a way to stamp it to make it your very own, like Sissi’s Lecso Patisson or something like that.
Zsuzsa, thank you so much for the kind words. I have been thinking a lot about you while writing about this lecso (and of course while cooking it!).
Now we have a bounty of Turkish “white” peppers on my market and my supermarket sells them straight from Hungary too! Not organic but I’m not that difficult when it comes to something so delicious and so aromatic! This time I had only hot peppers but they were Turkish too (aci sivri) and gave excellent results for a hot food fan 😉
Actually, even though I had this idea on my own, patiszonos lecso exists on Hungarian websites too!(This is how I knew how to name the dish!). It doesn’t change the fact that with a good lecso basis everything tastes great! Thank you once more for the wonderful recipe.
Really? That’s interesting. I don’t have any mention of it in my Hungarian cookbooks. But then the Internet opened up a lot of information going back and forth between countries. About not being organic, Hungarians have not embraced the American chemical giants like western countries, in fact there is a ban in existence and fields and fields of Monsanto corn have been burned to ensure this. I wish Canada would wake up, but its not likely to happen with the conservative government in Ottawa. They just roll over and let in every crazy money making scheme get inside the country. I am so not for national protectionism, but what we do here is lunacy. Now a Polish company wants to start an open pit mine inside my beautiful city and we are fighting that. Not because they are Polish, but because the mine will destroy the city. The company of course couldn’t care less for our way of life… half way around the world.
Haha! I had no idea Polish companies did anything as far as in Canada! The authorities shouldn’t allow something which destroys the city.
I have read that inside of Europe different countries also have different plant growing policies too, in spite of some EU laws which are often too permissive.
I’m amazed how you can make a veggie stew look elegant. Delicious, I’m sure.
Thank you so much, A_Boleyn. You are very kind (the late afternoon sun wasn’t easy to deal with though…). It’s excellent because it’s a lecso, not just an ordinary vegetable stew 😉 It seems so simple, but when made with good quality peppers and paprika, it’s irresistible.
What a fine way to serve this squash. I haven’t cooked with it too often but this is inspiring! =)
Thank you, Squishy Monster.
This Hungarian Pattypan Squash Stew sounds like something I would really enjoy. The squash is so adorable. 🙂
Thanks a lot, Amy. It looks cute, doesn’t it?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pattypan squash! What a beauty indeed and you’ve chosen a great way to celebrate it. I love all the veggies you work in here Sissi but I’m also amazed at how you present it. Making stew look distinct in it’s elements and attractive at the same time is a real art, you mastered it here! Beautiful photos. xo
Thank you so much, Kelly. I’m really flattered! I hope you will find pattypan squash in your new city!
I am somewhat surprised that this simple vegetable seems unknown or inaccessible to quite a few: it is available in huge piles in every Australian supermarket throughout the year. The term ‘squash’ is little known here and I can’t even think what the vegetable is termed Down Under: perhaps it is ’round’ or ‘baby’ squash? To a large degree I use it interchangeably with zucchini but know lecso only too well from the time there were about 5-6 different 50 cm high paprika cartons in the kitchen 😀 ! Actually I love it cold for breakfast highly piled on black or rye bread 🙂 !
Your breakfast tip sounds excellent! I’m a big fan of savoury breakfasts so I’ll remember this one!
This is a really nice simple recipe, just requires few basic ingredients and a rather unusual ingredient. Never seen nor heard of pattypan squash. If I saw the picture without an explanation I would guess it grew in one of those nuclear disaster/radiation areas. Are you sure about its origin? Has this been imported from Ukraine or Japan?
Thank you, Mr. Three-Cookies. I’m sure it’s 100% Swiss 😉 Seriously, it grows in many European countries, and quite easily too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you found it on a farmers market one day.
My Dad made lecso for us when I was a child, I must say it was absolutely delicious! And whenever I taste or smell the wonderful aroma wafting through the house, it always takes me back to that time.
A couple of years ago I asked my husband to pick up some cubinello peppers (which are similar tasting to the Hungarian light green peppers), unfortunately they were right beside the very hot variety and the majority of the pack he collected were hot! As I made lesco for our dear friends at the cottage I thought the aroma was rather intense, so I had a taste WOW; now I enjoy very hot foods but even this was hotter than any yogurt could quell. And at the cottage, our resources are limited so we were quite stuck with it. Now, I buy the peppers myself! I like your idea of replacing the vegetables, makes it a much more versatile dish for sure. I’ve seen that type of squash around, but I haven’t cooked it, perhaps I shall try this version too. And like you, I am not a fan of the greasy mess of some Hungarian cooks.
Hi, Eva. The only replacement I had to make here was putting medium hot chilli peppers instead of the sweet ones, the pattypan squash being just an addition to the basic recipe. It was excellent, but then my peppers were only medium hot.
Your story reminds me of several dinners with friends who had assured me they liked hot food and then I watched them putting tons of yogurt, sour cream and becoming all red with what I considered medium hot 😉
How interesting! I have never had this dish before but I think I saw this squash at store before. I remember because the memorable it’s shape and color. How nice of your neighbor to share their bountiful with you. Great photos always.
Thank you so much, Nipponnin.
I didn’t know that particular shape squash had a name! For my recent summer vegetable in parchment recipe, I also used that cute little squash. They were so delicious. I sliced horizontally so the shape was really pretty too. 🙂 I would love to make a stew like this and put the squash in it!
Hi, Nami. It’s a perfect late summer light vegetable stew. The basis contains sweet peppers (I had only chilli peppers, hence this slight modification). I’m glad you like pattypan squash too!
Yum! What a comforting stew! Stew is always on the menu once the cold weather kicks in. I will have to try this soon. I can’t say I’ve ever cooked with this particular squash, but it looks delicious. I’m guessing it’s pleasantly sweet? I hope you had a lovely weekend!
Thanks a lot, Gomo. Actually it’s a typical hot day stew. I don’t know why but it just tastes better in the summer (well of course the main ingredient, sweet peppers, are at their best in late summer…). It’s also very light. The squash is slightly sweet, but not as sweet as pumpkins for example.
Pattypan’s are just so adorable! Love a bowl of comforting stew 🙂
Thank you, Kiran.
It is the first time I see pattypan squash and it is so beautiful! This stew is perfect especially for those cold winter days that slowly but steadily approach!
Thank you, Katerina. It’s a cute vegetable isn’t it? I think many home gardeners grow it only for its funny shape. Actually this stew is a bit like bouyourdi: it’s eaten usually warm but one craves it in the summer.
A very lovely looking stew Sissi – I’m surprised you could get a pattypan squash… it doesn’t seem that time of year yet, does it? I suppose we are moving soon into autumn though, so it’s not so strange. I like to cook with them too – I love the shape, though the ones I got here were always the creamy white ones… never the yellow ones. I usually just make very boring dishes with my squashes – I’ll have to remember such a delightful dish when I next have them. Roasting or stuffing them all the time can get a little boring!
Thanks a lot, Charles. Pattypan squash has been sold here for two months now. The younger ones are smaller and have softer skin. You can also eat the seeds part which becomes inedible in the autumn. My neighbour who kindly offered me this one gets weekly vegetable boxes from an organic farm, which contains only seasonal products.
Sissi, I am so behind with my commenting, and even posting…just haven’t been myself lately worrying about my upcoming recent ‘skin cancer’ surgery.
I missed your amazing, elegant lecso with the cute little pattypan squash, which we rarely see in our markets…maybe in October, we hope! I would substitute it for the little ‘corkscrew’ yellow squash which I’m sure would work just as well. To tell you the truth, I’ve never ventured away from the classic recipe, other than adding potatoes to it!
Love your version, and also the inspiration from Zsuzsa’s original recipe!
Dear Elisabeth, as you see I’m also very late with blog activity (short holidays). I hope your surgery goes well (a friend has had it and told me it’s really nothing to be scared about). I cross my fingers!
Thank you so much for all the compliments. I feel that one can add anything to the basic lecso and it will still taste great!
I remember having lescó with so many meals when I spent a summer in Hungary! I love that you’ve made it with that cute little squash… such a versatile dish and light on the palette while complimentary to so many other flavours.
Thank you so much, Irina. Lecso is quite versatile, isn’t it?
Now letscho, how we call it, is one of those commonly home cooked dishes in Austria. Yet because my mum never cooked that much Austrian food, I only had it in friends houses. I had forgotten about it but my friend reminded me last year that I should post her recipe once. It’s really good and very similar to yours. Thanks for sharing sissi (and for reminding me)!
Hi, Helene. I’m glad you are a fan too. I had no idea Austria “imported” lecso from Hungarians (but of course it’s logical: the influence was mutual!).